Issei Hyoudou The Youkai Sekiryuutei ON HIATUS
by VermilionVS
Summary: The word "Irregular" was created to define Issei Hyoudou. He is the first Youkai to ever have wielded the Longinus Boosted Gear. As if being the Sekiryuutei was not enough, he is also one of the few remaining male specimens of his dying race, the Nekoshou's. Being thrust into a world of supernatural from birth, he has to come to terms with who he is, and how to save his dying race.
1. The Nightmare

**-Author Notes-**

 **I decided to write this story due to how strongly I dislike the High School DxD at times.**

 **As you might guess, I'm going to take my time and rant a bit before the important information comes, if you are just interested in the story, just read the bottom of the author notes and start from there, you can ignore the rest.**

 **Don't get me wrong, I've watched all seasons and have a good grasp of what the light novels have to offer, and I wouldn't be writing a story if I did not care about the subject at hand.**

 **I absolutely despise how tense and serious situations are ruined by unnecessary ecchi elements. "Oh Issei lost the fight and is nearly dying? Just grab some fucking boobs and you will be stronger than ever."**

 **HS DxD is the only anime that I have ever actually _forced_ my way through some episodes. The author of HS DxD is an expert at making a good build up for a fight or tense situation, just to throw it all away by going "Oh by the way, BOOBS EVERYWHERE". **

**Seriously, what the fuck.**

 **In this story I aim to provide an alternate point of view on how the HS DxD universe could look with an actually competent MC, and with proper romance elements. None of that "You have protected me with your life time and time again and saved me from an unwanted marriage, but you refuse to say my name due to your trauma so I'm going to throw a hissy fit" I'm looking at you Rias.**

 **In this story Issei will be stronger, smarter, non perverted, and just all around more competent, especially when it comes to romance. But make no mistake, I am not going to make him some sort of "Mary Sue". Issei is not perfect, he has his flaws.**

 **I will do my best to portray Issei and all other characters in a believable manner, I am sincerely tired of reading stories where Issei is just a blatant author self insert who somehow gained godly powers, destroys every opponent and picks up girls like he was fucking Ash Ketchum going around catching Pokémons.**

 **And don't get me started on stories featuring OC's as important characters. I've been reading stories on FanFiction for nearly a decade, for all kinds of anime/games/manga etc. And in that time I have seen TWO stories being able to pull of a believable OC that seemed relevant and fit well enough into the story as to not disrupt the flow of it.**

 **/Rant END**

 **Okay now for some actual information about the story itself.**

 **The pairing will be Issei x Kuroka. That's it. This is NOT a harem and will never be.**

 **The entire story has been planned with this pairing in mind, they will gradually learn to know each other and to figure out their feelings for each other.**

 **Issei will NOT become a part of any peerages, nor will he become an actual devil/fallen angel/angel.**

 **This story is based around Issei being a Nekomata, and he will remain as such through out the story.**

 **This is the first story that I have ever written, so all criticism and feedback is appreciated, I hope to refine my writing as the story goes on, and that will be significantly easier if we cooperate in that regard.**

 **Flames will be used to heat my dinner, and I'm hungry so bring it on.**

 **-Author Notes End-**

"Hello" - Regular Speech

'I am hungry' - Thoughts

 **[BOOST!] -** Sacred Gear/Ddraig Speech

 ***CLANGGGG* -** Expression, example of steel hitting steel.

Disclaimer: I do not own, High school DxD be it the anime, manga or light novel. What I do own however is my story and the changes provided within it.

 **Chapter 1: The Nightmare**

* * *

Resentment. Pain. Hatred.

Issei found himself floating in pitch black darkness, not a single speck of light were to be seen anywhere. He looked around for a bit before he was overcome by a feeling of dread. It felt as if though cold tendrils were grasping at his limbs, sending shivers down his spine.

Suddenly Issei's ears perked up and started twitching, he was sure of it now.

He was not alone.

"Who's there!" Issei shouted in hopes of finding whom, no, _what_ was down here with him.

Silence was the only reply. Issei started frantically searching for the source of his uneasiness.

'Calm yourself, remember your teachings. If you cannot find what you are looking for with your eyes, use your other senses.' Issei thought to himself. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, heightening his senses.

Unfortunately, to no avail. Issei could not pinpoint where this feeling was coming from no matter how hard he tried. The feeling was overwhelming, it felt as if it came from all directions, surrounding him like a cocoon.

 ***WOOOSH***

In the blink of an eye, the darkness surrounding Issei vanished. He found himself standing in what looked like a court, or at least, a part of one. Rows upon rows of benches were before him, forming a crescent shape around him.

Issei had been correct, he was being watched. And those that had watched him now sat before him. Rows upon rows of hooded figures stared down at him. He could not tell if these hooded figures were human, as underneath their hoods remained only pure darkness.

Issei stood in silence as he looked towards the benches where the hooded figures sat. An expression of shock briefly flashed on his face before his expression turned into a frown, his ears laying down along his head as his tails ceased their movement in anticipation for what was about to happen.

"Who are you?! Why did you bring me here!" Issei shouted up towards the stands as he waited in anticipation for their response. All the while he was mentally preparing himself for combat should they prove to be hostile.

Once again, his only response was silence.

"I said wh-" Issei started before he was felt an immeasurable amount of power spiking all around him.

The incredible power forced Issei to his knees, gasping for air. He had to focus all his efforts on purely being able to breathe.

Issei glanced towards the stands once again to see what was going on, to his shock, they were all still remaining seated. Not having moved even an inch from their spot. Anger started to overtake him as he started feeling as if he there purely for their entertainment.

However before he was able to do anything further, the previous silent figures now started whispering to him. He felt tens, no.. possibly even hundreds of whispers coming at him. Issei's pupils drew together becoming significantly smaller due to the sheer amount of fear he was experiencing.

The whispers grew louder, he could now make out bits and pieces of what they were saying.

"If you become that.." Voices whispered.

"He wishes for it as well.." Stated a darker voice.

"Ju...ge..aut Dr..e" The voices had started becoming distorted.

"Activate it." The voices whispered to him.

"…ugg..naut. Dri..e" Issei was not able to make out the word they were chanting.

The whispers had reached the point where it would be more accurate to describe them as shouts.

And they grew louder.. and louder.. and louder.

Issei truly felt as if his head was about to split wide open, his ears ringing, his lungs burning.

"ACTIVATE IT" the conjoined voices shouted at him with all their might.

Issei shot up from his bed hitting his head on the nearby bedside table on the way up.

Rubbing the area where he hit his head he slowly put his head in his hands as he was sitting in his bed, heavily panting, gasping for air.

'Th.. That dream again? It has been reoccurring more often lately..' Issei thought to himself as he swung his legs over the bedside, head still in his hands.

 **[Partner…]** The concerned voice of Ddraig, the resident of his Longinus, Boosted Gear, echoed inside his head.

For any normal person, being comforted by an ancient dragon residing within one's arm with the power to destroy multiple nations, would not only be unsettling but would make one question one's sanity. However, Issei Hyoudou was not a normal teen, especially considering his cat-like ears and tails.

Issei is a Nekomata, an ancient, nearly extinct race of cat-like Youkai which specializes in utilizing ki.

The Nekomata specie is significantly dominated by female specimens, with male Nekomata being so rare that they are considered a myth in most places around the world that know of this rare specie.

A Nekomata is usually indistinguishable from a human if they hide their ears and tails as they share most other human traits, at least physically.

'I am fine Ddraig, it is just a dream' Issei replied mentally.

 **[You do not look fine partner]** Ddraig retorted back.

Issei scoffed before replying; "For the Sekiryuutei to be bothered by a mere nightmare. Hah!"

And with that he stood up, turned off his alarm, and started stretching, preparing for his morning workout regimen.

After a couple minutes of stretching Issei went and got himself clothed. Issei's usual attire for his morning workout sessions were quite simple, a black T-shirt and gray sweatpants. Issei preferred functionality over flashiness, and this setup allowed him to freely move around without restrictions.

Before Issei left his room he made sure that he hid his ears and his tails. Not because he was afraid that someone else would see them inside his residence, he lived alone after all. But rather to ensure that he did not forget to do so before he left his house. It would be awkward having to explain to your neighbors why you suddenly decided to cosplay as a cat, since they had no knowledge of the supernatural whatsoever.

Issei sighed as he looked around the living room, boxes everywhere, as he had arrived late last night he barely had any time to unpack and thus the boxes remained on the floor spread through out the house.

"I am really not looking forward to having to unpack all of this later" Issei stated out loud to nobody in particular.

Sighing yet again, Issei grabbed the keys to the house as he unlocked the door and stepped outside. The sun had barely started to rise at this early hour, thus it was still rather dark outside. But that did not deter Issei, he thrived at this hour. There was virtually nothing to disturb him as his neighbors were still lulling in their sleep.

Being able to see clearly in this darkness due to being a Nekomata was only a further benefit of being out at this hour. Naturally he could not see as well as he would be able to in his Nekomata form, but his senses were heightened enough in his human form to allow him to complete this task without any issues.

While locking the door he cast another glance at the building that he would be to call home for the next foreseeable future. Sighing yet again Issei thought to himself 'When Azazel-sensei told me that he would relocate me to Kuoh so I could attend Kuoh Academy, I thought he would have hooked me up with a small apartment in some apartment complex, not a two story house with a front lawn and balcony.'

He could imagine Azazel's reasoning for it, probably something stupid and perverted along the lines of "Hahaha, my boy, you will be able to fit several girls inside this building, a perfect start for your harem"

Issei scoffed at the thought, he had no interest in a harem. Or maybe that was just his Nekomata genes speaking, since Nekomata's search for a single mate to spend their lives with. Besides, having a harem would be too much of a bother to deal with since he enjoyed silence and serenity. Not to say that he wouldn't mind enjoying said silence and serenity with his future mate.

Issei looked at the clock on his arm and noticed that it was already half past four in the morning.

'I do not want to be late for the welcoming ceremony especially on my first day in the academy, Azazel-sensei would have way to much fun teasing me with that.' Issei thought to himself.

Issei shuddered as he remembered how annoying Azazel, the Governor General of the Fallen Angels and Grigori could be if he set his mind to it. And with that, he set out jogging, his silhouette stretching across the street due to the rising sun.

 _-Scene Change-_

Panting and drenched in sweat he unlocked the door to his residence. He looked at the clock hanging on a nearby wall and noticed that it was already 7 AM, he would have to hurry up if he did not want to be late for the welcoming ceremony.

 **[I keep telling you partner, you need to be more aware of your surroundings. You become so engrossed with your training that you tune out the world around you.]** Ddraig stated, mildly amused at his partner's antics.

'Hmph. If you were aware that we were running short on time you should have notified me.' Issei retorted, displeased with himself for not keeping track of the time.

 **[You know as well as I do which dangers lie in disturbing a meditating Senjutsu user, partner.]** Ddraig said, this time with a more serious tone, losing the mild amusement previously held in his voice.

 ***Sigh***

"I know.. Sorry Ddraig" Issei stated dejectedly.

And with that, he rushed up to his bathroom, throwing the dirty clothes in the laundry bin on his way into the shower.

Once Issei had stepped into the shower he once again released his ears and tails. They were snow white just like the hair on his head. Sighing softly as the warm water washed over them. Issei washed his head and body under the warm water. He stepped out of the shower and proceeded to dry himself.

He sat down and brushed his four tails, Issei, like any Nekomata, held great pride in his ears and especially his tails. As they do not only define who he is, but also signifies the owners ability in handling ki as well as their magical reserves.

It was common for Nekomata's to only have one tail, especially if they were young and inexperienced in combat. An adult and experienced Nekomata could have two tails, however going beyond this number was practically unheard of. And this was despite the long average life span of roughly ten thousand years that the Nekomata's were known for.

It was not that Nekomata's were weak, and thus could not obtain more tails. No it was the opposite, even a one tailed Nekomata could prove to be a significant adversary to a middle tiered devil, fallen angel or angel.

A two tailed Nekomata could fight toe-to-toe with a high class devil, fallen angel or angel and manage to pull ahead with a victory. Beyond this number there simply is not enough data available as the amount of individuals in history who have achieved more than two tails could be counted on one hand.

Nekomata's in general have significantly heightened senses while in their Nekomata form, alongside increased physical attributes that are required to handle the amount of power contained within them.

However this much power did not come without it's own drawbacks. Ki, and in extension, Senjutsu, was a volatile form of magic, reliant on the users own life force and emotions rather than only drawing from a magical reserve as other races do.

Magical exhaustion was a real threat that all Nekomata's were aware of, expanding too much energy too fast would result in the best of cases, extreme fatigue and decreased life span, and in the worst cases, excruciating pain and death.

However that was not the end of the problems that came with this power, as it was heavily reliant on emotions, traumas as well as emotionally scarring events could leave one without the ability to utilize their ki at all, thus leaving them utterly defenseless.

Issei had finished brushing his tails, and thus hid his Nekomata form while clothing himself with the Kuoh Academy student outfit which he had been provided prior to his arrival at his residence. He then proceeded to sprint to Kuoh Academy hoping he would make it in time for the welcoming ceremony.

 _-Scene Change-_

Arriving at the Kuoh Academy school grounds just a mere five minutes before the ceremony was about to start, Issei was looking around quite panicked, searching for where the ceremony would be taking place.

'Damn old man purposely forgot to tell me where I was supposed to go so I would have to ask a fellow student, hopefully a cute girl to add to my harem as he would like to put it.' Issei groaned as he thought to himself, having grown accustomed to the inner workings of the Governor General's head.

Sighing he looked around for someone to ask, however they all seemed caught up talking with their friends about what they had done during the summer break, and Issei was in no mood to disturb them.

"Excuse me, do you need help?" A feminine voice suddenly queried Issei from behind.

"!" Issei exclaimed as he was startled from the sudden appearance of the voice.

"Pardon me, it was not my intention to scare you like that. You looked lost so I assume you are one of this years transfer students" The voice said, which Issei now realized coming from an attractive young lady his own age, her lavender colored eyes peered into his own yellow colored ones for a couple of seconds before Issei realized what was happening and straightened himself back up.

"No, it is quite alright I just did not sense you coming." Issei said with an embarrassed laugh.

"You are correct in assuming that I am lost, you would not happen to know where the welcoming ceremony is taking place?" Issei asked her, hoping she could help him find the ceremony before it began.

"The welcoming ceremony is taking place inside that building, however you are running late." She stated as she pointed towards the western wing of the Kuoh Academy.

"Thank you, er.. I never got your name." Issei stated, wondering who this girl who had helped him was.

"Sona, Sona Sitri" She answered bluntly.

"Thank you Sitri-senpai. I am Issei Hyoudou, I guess we will see each other around soon again." Issei said as he started walking towards the ceremony hall.

'A high class devil managing to sneak up on me? The Sitri heiress, sister of the Leviathan no less?' Issei mentally berated himself for allowing himself that moment of weakness.

'I have to admit though, being able to sneak up on me with such magical power.. Impressive Sitri-senpai, it appears as if I have misjudged you' Issei thought to himself, impressed that she was able to sneak up on him, naturally he would have detected first sign of magic being activated, but still.

'...' Sona pondered over their conversation in her head as she continued her walk towards the student council office. All the while she was unaware that their entire conversation had been seen by her fellow devil, Rias Gremory.

'Oho? The scouting starts early this year it seems like' Rias thought to herself as she kept her glance fixated on the teen running towards the welcoming ceremony. She was of course referring to the scouting of possible new additions to their respective peerages as neither of them had used up all of their Evil Pieces yet, the magical chess pieces capable of resurrecting a being into a servant devil.

"..Buchou?" A soft voice queried from behind her. Rias turned around and saw Koneko Toujou, her rook, and Akeno Himejima, her best friend and queen, standing there looking at her.

"The welcoming ceremony is about to start, Kiba is already there waiting for us.." Koneko's soft voice spoke again looking up at her master as well as friend.

"Ara ara, Rias, already looking for a boyfriend?" Akeno teased in her usual manner.

Rias just sighed at her queens antics and followed her rook and queen to the welcoming ceremony.

 _-Scene Change-_

The welcoming ceremony had just finished and Issei was on his way to his class. Mentally preparing himself for the bombardment of questions transfer students usually receive from fellow classmates.

"…and now I will welcome a new student to our class, he recently moved here from another city so be nice to him." Issei heard his teacher say to the class as he waited outside the classroom for the teacher to give him the go ahead to introduce himself.

'That is my cue.' Issei thought to himself as he stood up and entered the classroom.

As soon as he stepped into the classroom the class was in full motion whispering to each other. He heard a few giggles coming from some of the girls while he heard some curse words being muttered by some of the guys in the class.

"Hello everyone, I am Issei Hyoudou. I recently moved here from Kyoto, pleased to make your acquaintance." Issei said to his now fellow classmates as he waited for the teacher to assign him his seating.

With his introduction over, the whispers only increased. He picked up some parts of the conversations that were held due to his increased hearing.

"He looks so fit.." He heard some girl whispering.

"Do you think he has a girlfriend?" Another voice squealed.

And the whispers continued until the teacher spoke up.

"Silence! You can get to know Hyoudou-san after class is over."

And with that, the whispers ceased.

"Hyoudou-san, you can take the empty seat next to Motohama-san" The teacher said to Issei, much to the dismay of the female population of the class.

"He's going to be corrupted by them!" A pink haired girl shouted. Several girls nodding behind her.

"They're going to turn him into a pervert just like themselves!" Another girl exasperated, with more nodding from the other girls.

"Silence!" The teacher shouted yet again, this time the whispers ceased for good.

Nodding to the teacher, Issei made his way to his seat sighing along the way. 'Of course I would not be placed in a normal class... This is probably _his_ doing as well.' Issei groaned mentally, referring to the perverted Grigori leader.

And with this, the class continued as normal. Issei was bored out of his mind as he had already all had the subjects this school taught drilled into his head by Azazel, the Governor General.

As perverted as the Governor General may be, he is still an excellent tactician and would settle for nothing less than perfect results from his personal pupils.

 _-Scene Change-_

The class had ended and Issei was making his way out of the classroom, yawning due to having fought off the feeling of wanting to fall asleep during the lecture.

Regardless of the fact that he did not care about his teachers nor his classmates opinions of him, being seen as a delinquent by sleeping through the first lecture of the semester seemed like an inconvenience to him, and thus he stayed awake. Well, most of the time anyways.

"Yo! Issei!" the voices of the perverted duo heard through the classroom as they made their way to him.

'Please do not act as if we are friends.' Issei thought mentally, disgusted by the mere thought of being associated with them due to having heard their discussions about various girls in their class during the lecture.

Issei turned around, sighing yet again, as Motohama suddenly spoke up.

"Yo Issei! How about you come with us and watch the Tennis club's practice session? Sweaty teenage girls in bloomers are something to die for you know?" Motohama said with a big grin on his face, while his accomplice, Matsuda, stood by the side grinning with a thumbs up directed toward him.

"No thanks." Issei replied bluntly as he turned around and started to leave the classroom, leaving his fellow students baffled at his reaction to the perverted duo's offer. They were certain that he would have succumbed to their perverted ways having spent an entire lecture sitting besides them.

Motohama being the first one to recover from his shock half-shouted to Issei noticing he was on his way leaving the classroom yet again, yelled out at him.

"Blasphemy! Are you saying that you are not interested by the female body? Are you.. interested in men?"

Issei sighed yet again, this time audibly, so that the rest of the class could hear him.

"No you idiots. I enjoy the female body as much as any other man would." Issei started saying, berating them for their invalid claims towards him.

"Then why d-" Matsuda started before getting cut off by Issei continuing his explanation.

"I am however not a sex depraved freak, that gets off watching his fellow classmates like some sort of creep." Issei said coolly, shutting both of the perverts down.

And with that, Issei walked out of the classroom, not even having turned his head to the perverts while speaking to them. They were not worth the effort in his eyes.

Meanwhile the rest of his class, especially the girls remained staring at the classroom exit where Issei had stood, awestruck at what just had happened.

Not only had he turned down their offer, he utterly humiliated them in front of the entire class. Granted, said perverted duo has little to no shame left in their body, and they would most likely be at it tomorrow again, but they were pleasantly surprised nonetheless.

 _-Scene Change-_

As Issei approached the school gates he noticed a girl standing there waiting for him. She was wearing the Kuoh Academy outfit for girls and her deep purple eyes were shining with anticipation. Any normal male teen would have been enthralled by her beauty and shy smile, but as stated previously, Issei was not your normal teen.

Due to his enhanced senses he could easily decipher the fact that she was in fact a fallen angel, it would have been incredibly strange for him not to, considering how he spent most of his childhood training under one.

Regardless of this he decided to humor her as he was interested in why she, a fallen angel, was here in Kuoh Academy, which is devil controlled territory, looking for him. If Azazel had sent her here he would have been aware of it, Azazel could be perverted and absent minded at times, but he was not stupid.

He would not send a fallen angel to Kuoh Academy without prior notice and not expect it to be taken as a declaration of war. And war was something in which Azazel held no interest in, it halted his research after all.

 **[Be careful of this one partner, she is stronger than she looks.]** The voice of Ddraig echoed yet again within his head.

'Who do you take me for Ddraig? Do you really think of me so lowly, that I would not be able to detect a fallen angel standing right before me?' Issei replied mentally with a mocking tone.

 **[Suit yourself.]** Ddraig scoffed at him.

"Hyoudou-kun!" The female exclaimed and approached him with a big smile.

'She knows my name?' Issei thought to himself.

"I am sorry, but who are you?" Issei replied to the still unknown girl standing before him.

"Oh how silly of me, I am Yuuma, Yuuma Amano!" She exclaimed cheerfully, making Issei cringe internally at her blatant charade.

"I wanted to ask you if you would like to go out with me on a date tomorrow." The girl now known as Yuuma said to him. Shocking Issei somewhat, he did not see that one coming.

Although he kept the emotion from showing on his face as he formulated a reply.

"I am flattered that you asked me, however I am not looking to pursue a relationship right now." Issei said bluntly.

"Mou… And I was looking forward to it too." Yuuma stated looking crestfallen. Making Issei cringe internally yet again as he realized that he sounded like kind of an ass. Even though it was blatant that she was faking her emotions he could not help but feel a small amount of pity towards her.

 **[You have always had a soft spot when it comes to women partner.]** Ddraig chuckled in his head, being well aware of his thoughts.

'Tch, I am going to regret this later, but I can not deny that I am curious as to what she is doing here. I suppose that I will humor her for a little bit.' Issei thought as he looked at the fallen angel.

"Well.. I _do_ suppose that I do not have anything else planned tomorrow, we could hang out as friends if you would like." Issei compromised with the girl before him.

The instant she heard that she perked up, her smile returning to her face.

"Well then Hyoudou-kun, I guess I will see you tomorrow at noon, meet me at the nearby park ~Okay?" She said, her cutesy voice returning as she strutted away in the opposite direction as if nothing had happened.

'Really now, this girl..' Issei sighed mentally as he made his way home.

 **Chapter END**

 **-Ending Author Notes-**

 **Thank you for making it this far in the chapter, hopefully I have captured your interest enough that you will be around for the rest of the story from this point onward.**

 **Expect this to be a long running story, 100k words will be but the first milestone for this journey. The next chapter will be out in a day or two depending on the feedback received on this one. If I notice anything with my writing style that needs to be adjusted, now is the best time to do so.**

 **Favorite/Follow/Review/Flame,**

 **The choice is yours!**

 **Until next time~**


	2. An Unexpected Encounter

**Author Notes**

 **Hello once again everyone!**

 **I was baffled when I woke up to find my story having received so much support in such a short amount of time. To be honest I didn't expect to receive a single review until a couple more chapters, thank you all for showing such support for the story.**

 **First of allow me to go through some of the fantastic reviews that I received from you guys.** **If you are not interested in reading through my responses to the reviews, that's totally fine, feel free to scroll past the author notes and enjoy this next chapter!**

" _ **Damn. This is pretty good. Sucks it is T though. Haha. There is a story similar to this but this isn't a harem story. Will you show a backstory in the next chapter or something? Did Issei meet kuroka-nya already? Haha. Continue this please. Thanks."**_ _ **by LaserBr0**_

 **Author Response: Thank you very much for your review, I believe that I've read this other story that you mentioned, it was part of the inspiration that got me wanting to explore the concept of Issei being a Youkai, specifically a Nekomata/Nekoshou. The T rating the story currently has will be changed** **to a M rating** **as it progresses, it will remain at T until needed as that will allow me to reach out to a bigger audience since there are many people unaware of the "K → T" rating filter that FanFiction defaults to.** **Backstories for characters will be shown as the story progresses, I did not want to fill up the first few chapters purely with backstories before jumping into the story, I feel this to be a nice compromise. Regardless whether or not Kuroka and Issei have met yet, you'll have to wait and see haha, I don't want to spoil anything ;). P.S Thanks for being my first review ever!**

" _ **DxD obviously thrived off it's target audience, but it might've been more enjoyable if they stuck with the potential for a Semi-Serious Plot. We've seen there is politics among Devils, Angels, and Fallen, but besides the arranged marriages (I might've missed a few, it's been awhile), we don't really see all that much implemented." by Joseph(Guest).**_

 **Author Response: First off, I apologize for cutting out most of your review, I enjoyed reading it but I do not want to bloat my word count all too much with reviews and review responses. Regardless I agree with you on all points you make in your review. I find the political concepts within HS DxD to have a lot of potential, just that they were hidden under a lot of ecchi elements. Thank you very much for your review of the story!**

 _" **Oh come on! Dxd is known for Issei having a harem. You right in a way but at least let him has a small youkai harem."** **by von ghoul(Guest).**_

 **Author Response: I apologize that my choice of romance is not in your personal preference, however there are several reasons as to why I do not want to write a harem, especially in this story. First off, a harem is significantly harder to write** _ **right**_ **compared to a single pairing. What I mean by** _ **right**_ **is that each and every member of the harem is written in a way that does not make it seem as if they are there purely to stroke the authors ego. Most harem stories seem to only be about how many characters the MC can fit in his bed. There are a few exceptions to this rule, there are some well written ones, but I find the majority to seem so incredibly fake and forced. And I'm talking about stories in general, whether that be Anime/Manga/Light novels etc not just FanFiction. I** _ **might**_ **consider writing a harem in the future if I feel that I am competent enough to do so, but that wont change the fact that this story will remain a singular pairing. Thank you for your review, I hope you'll stick around and give me the chance to show you the charm of a singular pairing ;).**

 **And lastly, thank you ALL for your reviews, I have read through each and everyone several times while deciding which ones to highlight and respond to, if I could I would do so to everyone, but my author notes are already long enough haha.**

 **Here is a list of the reviewers which I were not able to highlight this time around:**

 **DracoANgel12, LordAlces, DeltaSierra4, Averageguy441(Guest), OsteoPoro, merendinoemiliano, Sennybee98, Guest(Guest), MidnightRider01, giacomoX, Guest(Guest), Freakofnature65, darth56, XxExtremeSamxX, Sasuke75249, Parker(Guest), Hoxto and Thedevilgamer.**

 **Thank you all for your reviews, and thank you all for the favorites and follows that this story has received!**

 **-A** **uthor Notes END-**

"Hello" - Regular Speech

'I am hungry' - Thoughts

 **[BOOST!] -** Sacred Gear/Ddraig Speech

 ***CLANGGGG* -** Expression, example of steel hitting steel.

Disclaimer: I do not own, High school DxD be it the anime, manga or light novel. What I do own however is my story and the changes provided within it.

 **Chapter 2: An Unexpected Encounter**

Issei was on his way home from Kuoh Academy after having just held a conversation with the fallen angel in disguise known as Yuuma Amano. He was deep in thought wondering what she wanted with him and what tomorrow would hold in store for him.

 **[You should let Azazel know about this when you get home, partner.]** Ddraig said within Issei's mind, being wary of the implications of a stray fallen angel within devil territory.

'I agree with you. A fallen angel showing up on the doorstep of devil controlled territory owned by the Gremory and Sitri families unannounced does not bode well.' Issei replied to his Sacred Gear as he continued his walk home.

'However what business does she have with me? She has no knowledge of my race, nor of me being the Sekiryuutei. Azazel has kept that under wraps from even the great Maou's, a lowly fallen angel would not have access to that information.' Issei thought to himself as he pondered over the situation at hand.

 _-Scene Change-_

Issei had finally reached his residence and proceeded to unlock his door before stepping inside. Closing the door behind him he took off his shoes and went straight to his living room intending on calling Azazel to let him know what had occurred at the school gates earlier this afternoon.

"… … … Hello?" After ringing several times Azazel finally picked up his phone, curious as to who was calling him, considering he had not written down the number for Issei's residence yet.

"Finally, took you long enough old man." Issei replied over the phone, as he had grown accustomed to the banter between them. Issei respected Azazel as he had taken him in at a young age when nobody else would, but that did not mean that he would pass up on the opportunity to fire a few shots at him.

"Oho, Issei? Is that any way to speak to your _beloved_ sensei?" The Governor General shot back at him without missing a beat, two could play this game after all.

A groan was all that Azazel received as a reply, while he chuckled over the line.

"How is the house I prepared treating you? Filled it with babes yet?" The Governor General teased over the line, being well aware of the fact that Issei had no such interests, however he felt it as his duty to do so as a father figure to the teen he spoke with.

"The house is just fine, slightly to big for my taste but knowing you I should have expected this." Issei started, gaining a chuckle yet again from the Grigori leader.

"However I did not call to discuss about your perverted fantasies, Governor General" Issei stated, this time losing the humor in his voice.

"Hm?" Azazel was genuinely curious as to why his pupil had called him, and he was even more surprised to hear him using the title that he had come to be known by, something Issei only did when the situation was serious. Gaining a serious look on his face he waited for Issei to continue his explanation.

"The name Yuuma Amano, does it ring any bells in your head?" Issei asked with a serious tone, however the reply he received was something he unfortunately expected.

"Amano… No I am sorry it is not a name that I have heard of before" The Grigori leader replied, wondering why this name had been brought up in their conversation.

"Tch, as I expected, it was a moniker after all." Issei stated, annoyance blatant in his voice as he prepared to deliver the rest of the information he had gathered while conversing with the girl.

Azazel sat in anticipation, allowing Issei to continue his explanation without being interrupted, he was well aware that his pupil would not call him by his title unless the situation called for it.

"On my way home from Kuoh Academy I was approached by a girl claiming that her name was Yuuma Amano, she had been waiting for me and asked me out on a date with her." Issei replied, going over the events that had happened inside his head while he explained them to his sensei.

"That is great and all, but I do not see why you called me just for that, unless you are asking for my blessing?" Azazel teased, with an undertone of seriousness present in his voice.

"Fallen angel, she is a fallen angel." Issei replied bluntly, ignoring the previous tease.

"!" Azazel was shocked by this information, he had not sent any fallen angels to that area, Issei did not require any protection by his angels, this fact Azazel was well aware of.

"Naturally she did not approach me with the intention of letting me know that she was a fallen angel in mind. She were still in human form." Issei clarified, which only raised further questions within the Governor Generals mind.

"Hm.. So how did you reply to her proposal?" Azazel queried, interested in how this situation would play out.

"I told her the truth, I am not looking for a relationship right now and thus I declined her date, although I _did_ agree with hanging out with her tomorrow as friends." Issei stated with a blank expression on his face.

"A stray fallen within Kuoh huh? Could I ask of you to handle her? I do not want to strain our relationship with the other factions further due to rash actions by a stray." The Grigori leader asked, hoping he would have to avoid acting in person as he was not looking forward to having to explain himself to the Crimson Satan why he showed up in his beloved sisters territory.

"Naturally, surely you did not think I would be hanging out with her at my own leisure?" Issei replied, mentally slapping his face at the thought.

"I see.. and what do you think about the Gremory and Sitri heiresses? Azazel asked with a lecherous smile on his face.

"I had a run in earlier with Sona Sitri, although I doubt that she is aware that I hold any power. And I have yet to encounter the Gremory heiress." Issei replied ignoring the perverted angel's antics.

"Oho, do not be so sure of that boy, if the Sitri heiress approached you this early it means that she is considering you for her peerage, she is an excellent strategist after all." Azazel stated while his head was lost in his thoughts.

"I would like to see her try." Issei replied with a smirk.

Azazel just sighed his reply, and with that, their call ended.

"Ddraig, I want you to be prepared to deploy in the form of a Twice Critical tomorrow, should she prove to be hostile." Issei said to his Longinus. After all, it would be significantly simpler to explain the fact that he had a commonly occurring Sacred Gear, rather than having to explain that he is the Sekiryuutei or possibly the only remaining male Nekoshou in the world.

 **[Hmph. Very well.]** Ddraig replied, slightly annoyed that he still had to be kept under wraps. He was the Red Dragon of Domination after all, he yearned to strike fear in the opposition and display his utter dominance on the battlefield. But he understood that now was not the time, and thus complied with his partners request.

He then proceeded to look around his living room noticing the _still_ unpacked boxes littered across the floor.

'..This is going to take awhile..' Issei thought as he sighed, preparing himself for the manual labor that was about to take place.

 _-Scene Change-_

"..Finally.. done.." And with that said, Issei passed out onto his bed face first, too tired to get under the covers.

By now most of the boxes had been unpacked, a couple still remained but he decided to leave those for later, he was satisfied with how his home looked for now. Issei proceeded sleep, yet again handing himself over to the grasp of his nightmares involuntarily.

For as long as Issei could remember he has been plagued by nightmares, the demons of his past would continue to haunt him as soon as he closed his eye lids.

Nightmares are not something that you learn to phase out the more times you experience them, but regardless of this, Issei had resigned to the fact that this was how it was going to be for the rest of his life.

"...Monster..."

"...You should have never been born..."

"…You have only caused trouble for us…"

"...You are too weak..."

"...Why do you not just die?..."

These were the voices that greeted Issei once he fell asleep, no matter how many times he had heard them, they cut new wounds in him every time. Memories of his past flashed before him, he could still make out the cries of fear, the stained streets, the heavy miasma of blood.

… Even his family laying sprawled across the crimson stained floor…

This was going to be another long night for Issei, as he continued to toss and turn in his sleep until the early hours of the morning.

 _-Scene Change-_

Morning had come, and regardless of the fact that it was Saturday, Issei continued his daily workout regimen. He could not allow himself to slack off, laziness lead to weakness and Issei could not allow himself to be weak. Not again. Never again.

Issei was currently approaching his usual spot in one of the thick forests surrounding Kuoh. He found this spot to be good enough due to its remoteness, nobody would accidentally walk in on him training here, that much he was sure of.

But he still made sure to check the perimeter each time, just to make sure.

Issei stood still and focused his thoughts, closing his eyes as he heightened his senses in an attempt to search for any possible onlookers. He sensed a couple of birds, a fox, and a deer.

'Alright, the coast is clear.' Issei thought to himself as he sat down preparing to meditate.

Meditation was a very important aspect for users of ki, as the power flowed within them not unlike a river. Thus you had to make sure that said river was able to flow freely without anything blocking its passage.

Issei sighed softly as he sat with his legs crossed on the ground near a big tree, it's branches giving him ample shade in the otherwise scorching summer heat.

Issei released his ears and tails so that he could properly focus on the task ahead of him.

Taking a deep breath he dived deep into his senses allowing them to completely take over, preventing any thoughts from entering his head.

It felt as if though the world had come to a halt, moving in slow motion. The previous emptiness has been replaced by a warm sensation, coming from the energy of the sun no doubt.

Extending his reach by enhancing his senses further he was able to sense a river flowing a couple hundred meters away from him. The chilly sensation of the cool water replacing the previous warmth the sun had held in him.

He could sense wisps of energy all around him, coming from the trees, animals, even insects.

Issei proceeded to delve deeper within himself after releasing his previously held breath whilst taking a new one.

The area around him had started to heat up, and soon enough an array of small fireballs could be seen around him, softly levitating in the air around his midsection.

Issei's breathing hitched a bit, and he proceeded to open his eyes. They were shining, no.. They were glowing.

Issei's previously yellow colored eyes had developed a light golden tint, their black iris still present. The fireballs held the same color as his eyes wore.

He stood up and proceeded to move his right arm forwards whilst he turned his hand around so that his palm was facing the sky.

Soon enough a tiny gold hued spark had appeared in his hand, which soon grew into a flame which held the same appearance as the other fireballs wore.

The flame had reached the point where it had entirely covered his palm, and Issei watched in admiration at his creation.

The admiration however, did not last for long, as Issei proceeded to make the flame envelop his entire hand. He was nearing completion of this task, before a sharp pain shot through his body, memories of the past flashing by him making Issei lose all focus that he had gathered as he fell to his knees.

Hands grasping the ground below him as he sat hunched forward, gasping for air while the taste of iron enveloped his mouth. He spit it out, only to realize that what came out was not spit, but his crimson colored blood.

"..Still….too….weak...huh?" Issei said out loud between his panting.

 **[Partner!]** The concerned voice of Ddraig echoed inside his head, this was not the first time that his partner had attempted this procedure, but the results this time were more severe than during previous attempts.

What Issei had attempted was an ancient technique created by ki users. Fittingly enough it went by the name of _Ki Manifestation_ as the user projects their ki outwards, out of their bodies, making it manifest in the form that the user desired.

Whilst it was an incredibly intricate technique that required strong discipline, Issei was certain that he, if anyone, _should_ be able to properly utilize it. But alas, he has never managed to manifest it for longer than a few seconds.

This has always been something that has haunted Issei, the thoughts in the back of his head reminding him that he always has been weak, and always will be. Issei scowled at the thought, but it remained there nonetheless.

"..I am fine Ddraig, we have been through worse." Issei replied, still panting from his previous exhaustion.

Issei gathered his thoughts and stood up, getting into his fighting stance, preparing for the physical part of his training regimen. This time his opponent would be the big tree he had previously sat under.

And with that, Issei lunged forward, delivering a heavy palm strike to the trunk of the tree causing it to drop most of it leaves while the bark that had previously been where Issei's fist now was implanted, had been blown off, displaying cracks in the trunk from the power of his fist.

Issei used the tree trunk as a ramp as he ran up it past a few branches before he planted his right foot on the trunk and used it to propel himself backwards into a flip.

The moment his feet touched the ground he crouched, building up strength in his legs that he released into forward momentum as he lunged towards the tree yet again, however this time he infused ki into his fingers as he ran his arm straight through the tree, splitting the trunk in two.

A satisfied smirk was shown on his face as he searched for his next target.

 _-Scene Change-_

Issei had already finished his training regimen and had gone home to freshen up before he was to meet up with Yuuma. He did not want to go around reeking of sweat.

Coming out of the shower Issei clothed himself with casual clothes as he glanced at the clock on the wall.

'Seems like it is about time for me to leave.' Issei thought to himself as he noticed that the clock was approaching the time in which they had agreed to meet.

Issei locked the door and left his house, making his way to the park she told him they would meet in.

It was a rather uneventful walk, nothing out of the ordinary had occurred during his way here as he had just arrived at the destination.

Noticing that he was slightly early he sat down at a nearby park bench while he looked around for something to entertain him whilst he waited.

It was at this time that he noticed a certain familiar presence following him. The same presence that he had felt in the back of his head during the talk with Yuuma, although he just shrugged it off at the time as just a coincidence, now he was certain. Someone was following him.

However before he could do anything, a voice caught his attention.

"Hyoudou-kuuuun~"

Issei sighed as he realized that this was the voice belonging to Yuuma Amano, the girl he promised to meet up with, as he made a mental note to deal with the stalker later.

"I am sorry that it took so long, did you have to wait?" Yuuma asked cutely with a smile on her face.

"No er.. I just got here" Issei replied, mentally cringing from uttering such a cliché line.

"Great! Let us be off then!" Yuuma exclaimed as she hooked arms with Issei dragging him off to the nearby shopping center.

 _-Scene Change-_

Issei had to admit that he had not disliked the experience as much as he though that he would, despite the fact that he was well aware that she was up to something, he could not help but feel _something_ stirring in his chest.

After dragging him to the shopping center they had set off to multiple stores where Issei had been forced to pick out clothing that he liked for Yuuma as she posed for him.

They then proceeded to go eat at a nearby café before ending the trip by watching a movie at the cinema located within the shopping mall.

All in all, not too shabby.

They had walked back to the park where they initially had met up in on Yuuma's request. Yuuma seemed to be in a great mood, which in turn made him wonder if that was due to how their day had went or due her real motive with this.

Issei was snapped out of his thoughts when Yuuma stepped up on the nearby fountain, doing a small twirl before interlocking her hands behind her back, looking at him expectantly.

"Ne, Hyoudou-kun I had lots of fun today.." She said smiling at him, with a tint of sadness in her voice.

"Would you do me one last favor?" Yuuma started, making Issei wary of what she was about to ask.

"Would you die for me?" She stated, this time without any hint of cuteness lacing her words. She was entirely serious with this request Issei realized looking at the sadistic smile on her face.

"I do not believe that is a question that should be asked on the first date Amano-san" Issei replied as he frowned at her request.

"Too bad that it was not a question." Yuuma exclaimed as dark energy enveloped her, revealing her true form as a fallen angel.

"To be honest I enjoyed our day together, although I still have to kill you due to your possession of a Sacred Gear." She replied as she formed a spear made out of light, even fallen angels could utilize the power of light after all.

"But I do suppose that I owe you a prize for being above my expectations when it came to today, my real name is not Yuuma Amano. It is Raynare, remember it in the afterlife." The girl now known as Raynare stated haughtily towards Issei.

As Raynare prepared to impale Issei with the spear, he muttered one single line.

"Ddraig."

The spear flew forwards towards the abdomen of Issei, however in the split of a second it had been stopped.

"!" Raynare exclaimed as she noticed that he had grasped her spear with his right arm, which had now been covered in what looked like the Sacred Gear, Twice Critical.

"Ne, Raynare-chan, maybe you should do some research on the target you are trying to kill before throwing your life away like this." Issei explained coolly with a mocking tone as he flipped her spear around preparing to lunge forward.

Raynare was wide eyed at what had just happened before her. This was not what was supposed to happen, Kokabiel promised her power beyond her imagination, even another pair of wings! All she had to do was kill the teen before her.

It was then she noticed the look in Issei's eyes, not only had his eyes started glowing slightly, they had such a feral look in them ready to tear her apart at any moment.

Raynare was scared. No, scared was an understatement, she was _terrified_.

Not a moment later Issei lunged at her, spear in his Sacred Gear covered hand. It looked as if though he had disappeared right before her.

Until she felt the spear ripping right through her chest.

"Azazel sends his regards." She heard Issei utter to her, making her eyes widen even further, before she was turned to ash.

As the remains of his now dead date were blown away by a gust of wind he once again noticed the presence of his stalker that he had sensed earlier.

He noticed that it was starting to leave, so he called out to it, not intending on letting it slip through his grasp again.

"You there! Why are you following me?" Issei shouted at the leaving figure.

The figure stopped and stepped out of the shadows, revealing herself to Issei.

Issei was shocked by the reveal, before him stood a girl just a few years younger than himself, sharing the same hair color. Issei sighed mentally at this, here he was preparing for another ambush, and it turns out that it is just a cute girl.

"..." The girl just stood there in silence looking at him.

"Look I am not mad, I am just wondering why you have been following me since yesterday?" Issei asked, realizing that he could be seen as a threat considering that he just disposed of a fallen angel by himself.

With this the girl in question decided to speak up.

"..Buchou told me that she wanted to meet you." The yet unidentified girl spoke to him in a soft tone.

"Buchou?" Issei replied curious as to who the girl was referring to.

"..I am in the Occult Research Club." She told him, as she seemed hesitant in revealing her friends name to a potential threat.

"Ah, Gremory-senpai then." He replied, slightly shocking the girl as she was unaware that he knew of her Buchou.

Issei sighed loudly. First he gets attacked by a fallen angel, and then the sister of the Crimson Satan wants to meet him?

"Just tell her that she can reach out to me in school if she wants to meet me, she does not have to send out people following me for that purpose." Issei replied while groaning slightly.

"..." Was the only response he got from the girl.

"Can I have your name at least? I am Issei Hyoudou, although I suppose you are aware of that already." Issei chuckled to himself, amused at the girl's actions.

"…Koneko Toujou" The girl now known as Koneko replied.

"Alright, I will see you around then Koneko-chan~" Issei replied in a teasing tone as he left the scene and made his way home, whilst Koneko stood lost in thoughts for a moment before she left to notify Rias about what had happened.

 _-Scene Change-_

"Oho? And did anyone see what happened in the park?" The questioning voice of Azazel the Governor General could be heard over the phone as Issei had been explaining to him what had happened today.

"No, well… Actually there was one other person there." Issei started before he remembered his encounter with Koneko.

"I had a run in with a girl by name of Koneko Toujou who had been following me on the order of the Gremory heiress." Issei explained to the Grigori leader.

"Toujou-san huh.." Azazel said, making Issei curious as to why he was interested in this person.

"Anything that I should know of?" Issei asked, curiosity present in his voice.

"No.. You will find that out soon yourself." Was the cryptic response he received from his sensei.

"Anyway about that hare-" This was as far as Azazel got before Issei realized that their conversation was over, and thus he promptly closed the call mid sentence for Azazel.

 _-Scene Change-_

"Hahaha, that boy. Getting to know people his own age will be good for him." Azazel chuckled to himself before getting lost in thoughts regarding the girl previously mentioned in their conversation, Koneko Toujou.

'Maybe I should have notified him about this… No this is for the best, he can take out his anger on me afterwards." Azazel pondered over the fact that he had not revealed that Issei was in fact not the only Nekomata at Kuoh Academy.

Naturally Azazel was aware of this prior to sending him there, but he was slightly worried nonetheless of how he would react to this knowledge, considering how emotionally scarred Issei was.

'I hope something good can come out of this..' Azazel sighed to himself.

 **Chapter END**

 **-Ending Author Notes-**

 **Thank you all yet again for such a fantastic response on the first chapter, I couldn't bring myself to let you guys wait any longer so here it is, the second chapter, released within 18 hours of the first one going up.**

 **I sincerely believe in quality over quantity, especially when it comes to FanFiction. I will never rush an unfinished chapter out just for the sake of keeping schedule.**

 **However I am going to try getting a new chapter out each day or two for the next foreseeable future. Momentum is an incredible ally when it comes to writing a story.**

 **It took me about 10 hours to pump out the first chapter, while this one took barely half that. I'm sure as time goes on and I feel more comfortable writing I will be able to get content out at a faster rate, without diminishing the quality.**

 **I am going to try and keep each chapter around 5k words, keeping it in bite-sized pieces for you guys to consume, while letting me work at my own pace and having you guys wait for 4-5 days per chapter.**

 **Thank you all once again for the fantastic support!**

 **Favorite/Follow/Review/Flame,**

 **The choice is yours!**

 **Until next time~**


	3. The Duel

**-Author Notes-**

 **H** **ello everyone, and welcome back for yet another chapter of "Issei Hyoudou The Youkai Sekiryuutei"!**

 **First off, let me thank you all again for the huge amount of support that this story has received, we are but three chapters in and we have already received 28 reviews, 58 favorites and 74 follows!**

 **Allow me to answer some of the reviews before I get on with the story, as usual feel free to skip these if you wish,**

" _ **It doesn't happen so much, but pretty nice chapter, glad to see Koneko and his future brother in law have already met. Best of luck with everything, and my congratulations for the speed." by merendinoemiliano**_

 **Author Response: Thank you for the review! These first couple of chapters have mainly focused on building a solid foundation for the rest of the story to progress upon, which is a big reason as to why Kuroka has not appeared yet. She will have a huge presence in the story once she gets introduced which is why I want to make sure that I give all other characters ample screen time and build up prior to this. Koneko will also play a big part in the story as you will see from this chapter and forwards.**

" _ **So far, it's just the casual first interaction that Issei has for his introduction to the supernatural. This isn't really the case of this story, but still the same song and dance necessary to further the plot without complications. I'm curious to see how Issei will develop as time goes on. Good luck on whatever you do, and I'll hopefully read your next chapter whenever it comes to fruition." by Parker(Guest)**_

 **Author Response: Thank you for the review! I am taking my sweet time with introductions and the start of the story just to ensure that I do it right. I do not look forward to having to edit a chapter due to some plot hole that I somehow allowed to slip through which is why I am making sure to take it at a reasonable pace. Currently the story follows canon loosely however you will notice me deviating from the base story as time goes on!**

" _ **I love it. But i am kinda mad about about issei being a full blooded nekoshou because only humans and half humans have sacred gears but other than that i love it." by Matt(Guest)**_

 **Author Response: I can understand where you are coming from in regards to the Sacred Gears, rest assured that I have a plan for that in mind as well. You will notice other changes in the DxD universe that does not exist in the original works as time goes on. I hope you will continue reading my story regardless. Thank you for the review!**

 **(P.S, I caught your review 2 minutes before I submitted it to FanFiction haha.)**

" _ **I fucks with this story" by kingdevo09**_

 **Author Response: I uh.. thanks? I am not quite sure what you are trying to convey, but reading your review made me laugh out loud last night while reading through the reviews before I went to sleep so I had to highlight it nonetheless.**

 **Here is a list of all reviewers in which I did not highlight from this time around, know that I am equally thankful for your reviews even if I did not highlight them: DeltaSierra4, darth56, Sasuke75249.**

 **-A** **uthor Notes END-**

"Hello" - Regular Speech

'I am hungry' - Thoughts

 **[BOOST!] -** Sacred Gear/Ddraig Speech

 ***CLANGGGG* -** Expression, example of steel hitting steel.

Disclaimer: I do not own High School DxD be it the anime, manga or light novel. What I do own however is my story and the changes provided within it.

 **Chapter 3: The Duel**

* * *

Issei was currently sitting in class, trying to stay awake for yet another terribly boring lecture. He noticed several girls from his class staring at him every now and then, before turning around and saying something to their friends whilst giggling.

This had been the norm for the entire day, no doubt that they had spread rumors about him during the weekend as their antics had increased compared to last week However, as they did not seem to be anything negative he just did not bother to care about it.

Motohama and Matsuda had been surprisingly quiet this lesson, not even attempting to strike up a conversation with him once, something which he was very pleased with.

'I wonder why that Gremory girl wanted to see me.. Probably to attempt recruiting me into her peerage.. heh.' Issei thought to himself, mildly amused at the thought.

 ***RINGGGG***

And with that, the school day was over.

Issei started making his way out of the classroom when he suddenly heard several girls squealing in a choir. Thankfully they were not directed at him this time.

He turned around to see who the poor guy was, only to be looking at Kiba Yuuto, the proclaimed "prince" of Kuoh Academy by the female population.

"Ah! Hyoudou-san, I was looking for you." The prince of Kuoh Academy stated.

"Me?" Issei asked as he pointed at himself, curious as to what Kiba wanted with him.

"Yes, although it is rather urgent. Please follow me." Kiba said as he started to leave the classroom much to the dismay of the females in the class.

Issei just shrugged and decided to follow Kiba to see what he wanted with him.

The class filled with whispers once the two students had exited the classroom.

"Yuuto-kun and Hyoudou-san?"

"...Maybe they are.."

"KYAAAH!" the girls exclaimed, somehow having come to the conclusion that something romantic was going on between the two teens. Much to the dismay of Issei as he was still able to hear some of it due to his enhanced hearing.

"So where are you bringing me, Yuuto-san?" Issei queried, he had a clue of what it could be, but he wanted to confirm his suspicions.

"Ah, there's no need for formalities, just call me Kiba." Issei was surprised at this, he expected that the so called "prince" of Kuoh Academy would grown arrogant due to his status within the school.

"I am bringing you to the Occult Research Club, otherwise known as just ORC, Buchou wanted to meet you." Kiba explained, confirming Issei's suspicions.

"Well that is neat and all, but why were you in such a hurry?" Issei asked with a raised eyebrow, not quite understanding what was so urgent, however he was not complaining as it got him out of the flock of girls quicker.

"Well… to be honest I just wanted to get out of there, the girls can get overwhelming at times." Kiba said sheepishly with a small smile.

'I am starting to like this guy." Issei thought with an amused expression on his face.

"Well in that case, just call me Issei, Kiba-san." Issei replied with a small smile on his face.

And with that, the pair walked in silence for the rest of the journey up to the Occult Research Club's club building. The previously abandoned dormitory looked rather ominous at first glance, but the inside looked nothing like the outside of the building did.

\- Scene Change -

 ***Knock Knock** *

"Come in." Issei heard a female voice state from the other side of the door, as he stood outside the ORC building's meeting room, waiting alongside Kiba.

"Excuse us." Kiba said and opened the door, entering with Issei in tow.

"Ah, Kiba-kun I see that you have brought Hyoudou-san here as requested, thank you." The Gremory heiress stated whilst Kiba gave a curt nod and sat down at one of the sofas present within the club's meeting room.

"Gremory-senpai we meet at last." Issei said as he looked around the room, noticing that only he, Gremory, and Kiba were currently present.

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well Hyoudou-san, I have heard many things about you." Rias said with a smile present on her face.

"Nothing from my classmates I hope, they can be rather ruthless with their rumors." Issei replied with a blank expression on his face making Rias giggle at his reply.

"Please take a seat, the rest of the Occult Research Club will arrive shortly." Rias stated as she gestured towards one of the empty sofas present in the room.

Issei just nodded as he went past Kiba and sat down on the sofa next to his. Rias herself went and sat in the sofa opposite of him querying him if he wanted any refreshments, to which he denied.

The room was silent for awhile before Issei decided to speak up, wondering why they had brought him here.

However before he was able to utter any words, he heard knocking at the door yet again.

 ***Knock Knock** *

"Come in, our guest has already arrived." Rias stated as she could predict who the knocking belonged to.

And with that, Akeno and Koneko entered the room, excusing themselves for the interruption and proceeded to take seating in the sofas. Akeno sat down next to Rias whilst Koneko sat down besides Kiba.

"Now that everyone is here we can begin with the reason as to why you were brought here Hyoudou-san." Rias stated, Issei just nodding in agreement.

"Tell me Hyoudou-san, what do you know about the supernatural?" Rias asked as the rest of the ORC's club members were listening in on their conversation.

"Enough as to wonder what business the Crimson Satan's sister, and her peerage, has with me, a non-devil." Issei replied making the members of the Occult Research Club go wide eyed at his reply. They assumed that he held some knowledge about the supernatural due to possessing a Sacred Gear, but to know that she was the sister of Sirzechs Lucifer and that they were devils came as a shock to them.

Rias being the first one to recover from her shock, proceeded her questioning.

"Ahem, well that does simplify some things." Rias stated awkwardly as the rest of the ORC were recovering from their initial shock.

"So tell me, Hyoudou-san. What business did that fallen angel have with you?" Rias stated in a serious tone, losing the previous cheerfulness that it held when she greeted him. She now thought of him as a potential threat, no doubt.

Issei sighed audibly before he began his explanation.

"First off, no. I am not allied with the fallen angels, I wanted to get that out of the way first since I can clearly see how tense you all have gotten." Issei replied attempting to defuse the situation, which helped relieve some of the tension in the room.

"The fallen angel approached me asking me out on a date, to which I declined. However as I sensed that she was a fallen angel, I agreed to hang out with her last Saturday, since I was curious as to what she was up to being a lone fallen angel in devil controlled territory." Issei stated gaining a few nods from the ORC club members.

"However, that is information in which you already have, Gremory-senpai, considering that you sent Koneko-chan to spy on me. Is it not?" Issei stated, starting to understand what Rias were aiming for.

"Ara, Koneko-chan is there something that you have not told us? Already on first name basis tehe~." Akeno teased her fellow club mate.

The only reply she got was the sound of Koneko munching on her snacks, remaining silent otherwise.

"Ahem, returning back on topic.." Rias said noticing that they were getting sidetracked.

"Indeed, so let us skip the sweet talk, Rias you sent Koneko-chan to spy on me so that you could resurrect me into your peerage after my date had killed me. Were you not?" Issei stated bluntly, not really caring that it came off as rude.

Once again the ORC club members had been shocked at how accurately he could read them.

"Ahaha, well you see-" Rias started saying embarrassed that she had been seen through.

"Gremory-senpai." Issei said, cutting Rias off.

"Yes.. Yes, you are correct. That was my intention" Rias replied with a tone of sadness as she realized that she had most likely made the Sacred Gear user hate her.

"That is rather.. Tasteless, I must say." Issei started slightly frowning, only furthering the guilt which Rias felt.

Akeno was about to speak up, not liking how her best friends feelings were getting hurt. Sure she made mistakes, but she was a very kind girl nonetheless, she would not allow someone who did not understand her struggles talk down to her like that. However before she could say anything she was cut off by Issei continuing his speech.

" _However_ I do understand the struggles that each of the three factions are currently facing, losing most of their populations in the great war. And I do have to admit that I am rather flattered that the princess of the Underworld wishes for me to join her peerage." Issei said, not wanting to hurt Rias's feelings as he had been told by Azazel that the Gremory family were unusually kind for devils, and she technically had done him no harm thus far.

Akeno was dumbstruck by this, she had fully expected him be furious about the actions done by her friend.

"!" was the only response he got from Rias after his response.

"So tell me Gremory-senpai, what will you do now?" Issei queried, interested in seeing how she would react to this information.

".. Well you could still join my-" Rias started saying, before getting cut off by Issei yet again.

"I am sorry Gremory-senpai, but I have no intention in joining _any_ peerages." Issei stated, making sure to get his point across, while he was making sure to put extra emphasis on "any" so that she would not feel as if he declined her due to their earlier conversation.

Rias just sighed at this, it was to be expected after all.

"Ara Hyoudou-kun, you could join the Occult Research Club, could he not, Rias? _"_ Akeno proposed to the group, to which made Rias face light up.

"That is a great idea Akeno, ne Hyoudou-san?" Rias asked hopefully.

"Just Issei is fine, there's no need to be that formal, senpai" Issei started saying, noticing that Akeno had gained a glint in her eye from this statement.'

"As for whether or not I will join the ORC.. I will consider it, give me some time to ponder over it." Issei replied, to which the ORC club members nodded along. It seemed fair enough.

"Well then _Issei,_ could you tell us which Sacred Gear you are holding? Koneko-chan seemed to believe it to be a Twice Critical, but she also stated that something seemed.. off with it." Akeno suddenly asked, placing extra emphasis on Issei's name in an attempt to tease him.

'I never said that you could be _that_ informal senpai..' Issei thought to himself as he sweat dropped.

"Well you are correct that it is not a normal Twice Critical." Issei started saying, much to the surprise of the club members, as they were not sure if Koneko's information were correct in that regard.

"However, you devils should be familiar with the concept of _Equivalent Exchange_ should you not? Asking me to reveal such information without giving me something of equal value.." Issei said as he referred to the contracts devils make, in which they complete tasks for their contractors in return for a reward.

"N-naturally we would not ask such things from you without giving you something in return, ehehehe... What do you wish for?" Rias said, her voice betraying her by telling a different story than the words she were saying.

"Hm, well.. Actually, Kiba-san why do you not help me out with this?" Issei said with a small grin, much to the confusion of Kiba.

"Me?" Kiba said pointing at himself, wondering what Issei could want from him.

"Yes, you. You see.. I have not had the opportunity to spar with anyone lately, and I do not want to get rusty." Issei stated, shocking most members of the ORC. Koneko were still munching on her snacks, not really interested in the conversation that was taking place.

"Just a friendly spar, nothing big. No serious wounds or any lasting damage. What do you say?" Issei stated, this time with a visible smirk on his face, alongside a small feral glint in his eyes.

"Well I suppose.. if that is what you wish?" Kiba stated, not entirely sure why Issei had chosen this alternative.

"I am certain. What do you think Gremory-senpai?" Issei asked hoping to get her agreement on the fight.

"I suppose I can agree with that, just a friendly spar.. Right?" Rias asked Issei wanting to confirm yet again.

"Right." Issei replied.

\- Scene Change -

The Occult Research Club had gathered at a nearby clearing as they wanted to avoid the club building taking any damage from the spar between Issei and Kiba. Considering the age of the building it is a miracle that it is still standing at all.

As the participants took their spots on the soon to be battlefield, Issei made sure to take off his shirt, leaving him in his undershirt, wanting to avoid having restricted movement because of it.

Issei made his way to his side of the clearing before he asked if Kiba was ready to start, which surprised the ORC as he did not have anything to defend himself with present.

"Are you not going to bring a weapon?" Kiba queried as he himself was surprised of his soon to be opponents actions.

"Let us see if you can make me summon one." Issei replied cryptically to Kiba.

"Well, alright then. Are both participants ready?" Rias asked, shrugging off her confusion by Issei's statement.

"Yes."

"Bring it."

Were the responses received from the duelists.

"Well then, begin!" Rias shouted as she took her seat next to Akeno, and surprisingly even Koneko, who had been interested in watching the fight as well for some reason, bringing her bag of snacks with her.

"I hope you will not disappoint me Kiba!" Issei shouted as he dashed towards Kiba as soon as the start of the fight was announced.

"Right back at you!" Kiba announced as he prepared his blade for confrontation.

Issei lunged towards Kiba fist first, attempting to draw the first blood, however Kiba parried him with his blade as Issei flew past him.

As Issei ceased his movement he noticed that he had gotten a cut on his cheek, a small trail of blood trickling down. He had to admin that he was slightly shocked, not having expected the knight to have such good reflexes, before he started grinning.

'This will be interesting!' Issei announced to himself as he readied himself for another attack.

And so the fight continued, with Issei on the offense whilst Kiba stayed on the defense, parrying the strikes coming at him best he could.

"It almost looks like a dance." Rias said, referring to sharp movements of both participants, as no wasted movement could be seen as they dodged and attacked each other gracefully.

Koneko just nodded along to this while Akeno continued to spectate the fight.

"Ara? It looks as if Kiba-kun is going on the offense now" She exclaimed as the roles the two duelists had held switched. Now Issei was the one parrying the strikes from Kiba's blade.

At this point, both the participants were panting due to the intensity of their fight, however it was noticeable that Kiba was the one tiring faster.

"Kiba-san, you have surpassed my expectations. I have enjoyed this fight so far." Issei stated with a smile on his face while he was panting, the feral look returning to his eyes.

"So have I, Issei-san, however I have yet to make you summon your weapon." Kiba replied between his panting, a smile also present on his face.

"So show me the power of Rias Gremory's prized knight then, Kiba-san." Issei said with a smirk as he dodged another strike from Kiba.

And with this, Kiba stepped back, collecting his breath. He was well aware that he would not last much longer, he needed to give this next attack his all. Meanwhile Issei stood by waiting in anticipation for what the Gremory knight would throw at him next.

As Kiba started focusing on his next attack, Issei could feel magical power being gathered around Kiba, growing at a rapid rate.

'This is what I am talking about! Come at me with everything you have got Kiba!' Issei mentally exclaimed, his excitement growing by the second. The spectating ORC members grew wide eyed seeing Kiba getting serious.

"Rias maybe we should call of th-" Was as far as Akeno were able to speak before being interrupted by Kiba's shout.

"Prepare yourself Issei-san! I will not hold back!" Kiba shouted to Issei.

And with that, Kiba dashed forward, his speed so magnificent that it appeared as if he had teleported right in front of Issei.

Kiba was raising his blade at Issei, aiming for his chest, when he suddenly realized something.

'Wait! Issei-san is not a devil! I put to much power into this attack, it is going to kill him!' Kiba shouted mentally, realizing his grave mistake. However, it was too late, he could not stop his attack as the momentum carried his blade forwards.

'I am so sorry Issei.." Kiba thought regretfully as the blade was approaching the person that he had began to respect as a friend.

'It appears as if I have misjudged you Kiba, you truly are a worthy opponent, I will not shame you by holding back any longer.' Issei thought to himself as he saw the blade approaching him.

"Ddraig" Issei muttered as his body gained a faint glowing hue.

 **[Boost!]** Was the response he received from his Longinus as it formed on his arm.

It was as if time stood still when Kiba's blade passed through Issei's chest, only for Issei to appear right next to him with his armor covered fist slamming into his side, sending him flying into a nearby tree.

'An afterimage?!' Was all that Kiba had time to think off before he succumbed to his tiredness and passed out.

Heavily panting, Issei could only utter one sentence.

"Impressive."

Before he fell down to one knee, at first glance it looked as if Kiba's attack had passed right through him, however he merely dodged the strike at such an angle that it left a cut along his upper chest, instead of puncturing it.

To say that his spectators were surprised by these events were an understatement, they were awestruck by what just had occurred.

"Hyoudou-kun is.." Rias started

".. The Sekiryuutei?!" Akeno said as she completed her best friends sentence.

"!" Even Koneko was surprised by this, although it was overshadowed by another thought.

'The way that Hyoudou-senpai dodged that attack at the end..' Koneko eyes had widened even further as she realized what her senpai had done, he had not used any magic. That much she was certain of.

Had he used.. Senjutsu?

Koneko was brought back to reality by a loud thud, as Issei hit the floor. No longer being able to stay awake due to his injuries.

They had just noticed the small pool of blood which had formed where Issei had hit the floor.

"Hyoudou-san!" Rias exclaimed as she ran over to him, worried about his injuries, while Akeno checked up on Kiba. As Kiba was a devil he would recover much faster than a human like Issei would, well at least that was what they thought. But regardless of this fact, it remained true that Issei had considerably more severe injuries than Kiba had received.

Rias went wide eyed as she saw the cuts on Issei's chest, from which blood had started to pour from. She knew that he had sustained cuts from Kiba, but this much? Had he fought wounded this entire time?!

'Heh.. Seems as if I overexerted myself again..' Was the last thought Issei held in his head before he blacked out.

\- Scene Change -

It was midnight by the time that Issei started to regain consciousness, the only light available was a small candle on a table in the room he was laying in, that illuminated the otherwise pitch black darkness that was surrounding him.

Issei slowly raised himself from where he laid, noticing that someone had bandaged his wounds after his fight with Kiba.

He slowly looked around taking in his current location.

'..I remember this interior… is this the.. Occult Research Club building..?' Issei slowly thought to himself as he was still in the process of waking up.

 **[You have been out for nearly 10 hours.]** The voice of Ddraig echoed inside his head, with a serious tone.

 **[I kept trying to tell you that you were in no condition for that fight, but you kept shutting me out of your mind.]** Ddraig continued explaining, this time with annoyance lacing his words.

'I am fine Ddraig-' Issei started replying before he was cut off.

 **[Does laying passed out in a pool of your own blood count as fine!? If you continue like this you are going to get yourself killed, do you think that is what _they_ would want?!] **Ddraig shouted at him, Issei not expecting this outburst from his partner.

'It does not matter what _they_ would think, all that matters is that I am strong enough to prevent it happening again.' Issei replied quietly.

 **[And how are you supposed to do that if you are dead?]** Ddraig's voice boomed within Issei's mind yet again, however his only response was Issei scoffing at him.

As Issei looked around the room he noticed that Koneko was sitting on a chair by the bed, seemingly fast asleep.

Issei wondered what she was doing here, before he got his answer from Ddraig.

 **[This little miss has been taking care of your wounds since your battle.]** Was the last thing Ddraig said before Issei felt him retreating back into his mind.

Issei looked at Koneko for a moment, curious about why she would be the one caring for him, considering the cold shoulder she has been giving him since he arrived here.

"?"

Koneko must have noticed that he had woken up as she started stirring, she then proceeded to yawn and stretch her arms before she locked eyes with Issei.

'Cute.' Issei thought to himself.

"I guess you were the one who tended to my wounds?" Issei asked softly to Koneko, who in turn only nodded her head.

"Thank you, although you did not have to stay the night, I would have been fine until the morning thanks to your bandages." Issei replied, thankful for what she had done, but curious as to why she had stayed.

"..Nightmares.." Koneko stated, still uncomfortable speaking with Issei.

"Huh?" Issei asked.

"..You were tossing and turning in your sleep, muttering things." Koneko said, this time she used more words than she previously had.

"So you stayed because you were worried about my nightmares?" Issei queried, slightly worried over what he might have said whilst he was out.

"..Mm" Koneko replied shyly.

"You do not need to worry about me Koneko-chan, I have grown used to them by this point.." Issei stated with a sad expression, shocking Koneko slightly. However, Koneko was curious about something and decided to ask Issei about it now that they were alone.

"..Why do you call me that? You refer to everyone else by their family name, but not me.. Why?" Koneko asked as she has wondered about this since the first time they met. She heard him call Kiba by his first name, but they were boys so it was different.

"I am sorry, did I offend you?" Issei asked, hoping that he had not unintentionally made her angry at him.

"..Nn, I am just curious" Koneko said as she shook her head.

"You remind me of my sister, you both share the same hair and eye color, and you both enjoy snacks more than anything." Issei stated, this time with a sad smile on his face as he reminisced about his sister.

"!" Koneko was shocked by this fact, she thought he was merely doing this to tease her, but seeing his sad expression she now knew that that was not the case.

"Your sister?" Koneko asked, this time without hesitating first, she had seemingly grown more confident speaking with Issei during their conversation.

"I loved her more than anything.. I miss her so much." Issei said, noticing that his eyes were starting to water.

Koneko noticed this as well and felt bad about asking as it was obviously a hard topic for him to talk about, she knew all to well how it felt being separated from someone you love, as she thought about her sister.

"Where is she now?" Koneko asked, hoping that she would not offend him by asking this question, however she wanted to know if a similar fate had befallen his sister, in regards to her own.

"Dead. Alongside the rest of my family." Issei said, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood. He refused to cry, he felt as if he had no right to.

At this, Koneko went wide eyed. She did not pick up on the hint that Issei had left in his choice of words the first time. She immediately felt regretful for bringing it up.

"I am sorr-" Koneko started apologizing before Issei cut her off.

"Stop, it was my fault after all. I was too weak to protect them when they needed me. I have no right to cry over it." Issei stated coolly, making Koneko slightly wince at his tone.

The room had become enveloped with silence for a brief moment before Koneko spoke up.

"..Those wounds.. They were not from the fight with Kiba-san.." Koneko stated hesitantly, feeling the awkward silence that had enveloped them after their previous conversation.

"No. They were not." Issei started explaining, glad to move on from the previous topic.

"I received them during a training session" Issei said, surprising Koneko yet again.

'What kind of training warrants those wounds?' Koneko thought to herself, it looked more as if Issei had wrestled with a bear, bare chested, with nothing more than his fists as a weapon.

"That move you used at the end of the fight where you dodged Kiba's attack, that was Senjutsu, was it not?" Koneko asked, finally getting to ask the question she had been holding in all day.

This time it was Issei's eyes that widened in surprise at her statement.

"How do you know that?" Issei asked, baffled at how she could possibly know that. All the while he confirmed the suspicions Koneko had held about what he had used.

"..My sister taught it to me." Koneko said hesitantly, it seemed as if her sister were also a sensitive topic Issei noted.

It was at that moment that Issei realized something.

…

Her behavior, hell she even had the same eyes the he had. How could he not have noticed it earlier?!

"..Koneko.."

"Are you a ne-"

 **Chapter END**

 **-Ending Author Notes-**

 **And that is it for the third chapter of this story! And with this I have also secured a ticket to hell for leaving you all at a cliffhanger like that. However, hell doesn't seem too bad if we're to go by the High School DxD universe.**

 **Thank you for reading this chapter, as usual, expect another chapter to be out within a day or two. Last chapter came out roughly 18 hours after the first chapter came out, fast enough so that the FanFiction system did not even process it as an update haha.**

 **Favorite/Follow/Review/Flame,**

 **The choice is yours!**

 **Until next time~**


	4. Sweet Dreams and Cursed Rituals

**-** **Author Notes -**

 **H** **ello again everyone and welcome to the** _ **fourth**_ **chapter of "Issei Hyoudou the Youkai Sekiryuutei".**

 **I apologize for the time it took to push this chapter out, I had to deal with quite a bit of things in my daily life which minimized the time I was able to write significantly.**

 **Unfortunately I will be cutting out the review section from this chapter due to time constraints as I want to get this chapter out on time without stretching the release schedule.**

 **However as a compensation for this I will spend the rest of my evening sending out personal responses to those of you who have left a review since the last chapter.**

 **Make sure to check your inboxes if you are interested in seeing my reply to your review.**

 **Here is a list of all reviewers that have left a review since the last chapter went up;**

 **darth56, Funnybones123, CrimsonOmega, Laserbr0, fibersnatch343, DreadedDemise, Yexcor, Guest(Guest 1), TatsuyaShiva4, Guest(Guest 2), Melon567, S0UL-essen, Matt, ObviousHUN, merendinoemiliano, OsteoPoro, Gabrielbrooks, NiteExtreme, BaronChronos, GunScythe.**

 **And lastly, thank you ALL for the HUGE amount of support this story has received since its release. Three chapters in and we are already at: 51 Reviews, 99 Favorites and 125 Follows! That is absolutely insane, thank you all so much!**

 **N** **ow I have babbled on for long enough, you are probably growing tired by this point if you are even reading these notes to begin with ^_^.**

 **P.S: Thank you DreadedDemise for pointing out a flaw with last chapter, I was able to fix it within 30 minutes of the chapter going up due to your help!**

 **So let us get into the chapter!**

 **-A** **uthor Notes END-**

"Hello" - Regular Speech

'I am hungry' - Thoughts

 **[BOOST!] -** Sacred Gear/Ddraig Speech

 ***CLANGGGG* -** Expression, example of steel hitting steel.

Disclaimer: I do not own High School DxD be it the anime, manga or light novel. What I do own however is my story and the changes provided within it.

 **Chapter 4: Sweet Dreams and Cursed Rituals.**

* * *

"..Koneko.."

"Are you a Nekomata..?" Issei slowly asked Koneko, as if he was not believing the words that came out of his mouth.

"..." Was the only response that he received from Koneko as she stared at the ground, fiddling with her hands.

After fidgeting with her hands for a couple of seconds, she finally mustered up the courage to summon her Nekomata form. A pair purely white pair of ears appeared on the top of her head, alongside her tail.

"..."

Suddenly, a small thud and the squeaking of the bed springs could be heard in the otherwise silent room as Issei had moved to quickly embrace Koneko, knocking her down on the bed in the process.

"E-Eh!? H-Hyoudou-senpai?!" Koneko stuttered out as she had been shocked by his actions, her brain overloading while attempting to process what had just occurred.

"You.. you … you look just like her.." Issei finally managed to get out of his mouth between his snivels, this time his tears were flowing freely, showing no signs of stopping.

Koneko had truly no idea what was going on, she could feel one of Issei's hands holding her around her waist whilst the other held the back of her head as he rested his head on her shoulder, pulling her closer to him while he continued to stain her shirt with his tears.

'L-Like her…?' Koneko thought to herself, still not being able to process the events that had unfolded since she revealed her Nekomata form.

'...'

Then it struck her, he knew Senjutsu, he was aware of the existence of her race, which is incredibly rare, something that most of the supernatural population did not even know existed.

And he said that she looked _her_ , but who is..

Oh..

His sister..

Koneko's previously blank state of mind started returning back to a functional state, which allowed her to notice that something was tickling her cheek.

'It is warm.. It is soft.. It is.. Fur?' Koneko thought, still not entirely piecing the entire picture together.

Something else caught her attention, something that was moving back and forwards..

'A-a tail? N-no, tails?' Koneko concluded in her head, noticing that they were snow white, just like the hair of..

Koneko wanted to confirm one last thing, and moved one of her arms, placing her hand on Issei's head.

Koneko went wide-eyed.

There were ears on his head.

He had tails, just like the one she had.

He said that she looked just like his sister.

'H-Hyoudou-senpai is a N-Nekoshou?!' Koneko concluded in her mind, going wide eyed.

Before she had any time to react she heard Issei's voice yet again.

"I-I am so sorry, I was too weak to protect you back then." Issei softly said, making Koneko wonder what he was referring to.

'B-Back then?' She repeated in her head.

'W-Wait.. Does he think that I am his-' Koneko thought to herself, her mouth opening slightly.

 **[Partner…]** Ddraig said with pity filling his voice.

"I.. I am never going to let you down again." Issei said once again, his thoughts clouded, preventing him from thinking clearly.

 **[Partner.]** Ddraig said to his partner, once again attempting to gain his attention. This time more forcefully, however to no avail. Issei could not hear him.

"I-I am never going to let you go again." Issei stated firmly, pulling Koneko closer to him, making her uncomfortable.

 **[PARTNER!]** Ddraig shouted with all his might within Issei's head. Snapping Issei out of his thoughts, making him wince at the booming voice within his head.

 **[Partner.. Snap out of it.. Your sister is dead.]** Ddraig stated, sadness present in his voice. He regretted having to yell at his partner like this, especially when he was in such a vulnerable state, but his partner's mental state was brittle enough. He could not allow himself to watch as it deteriorated further.

"!" Issei exclaimed, just noticing what he had been doing to poor Koneko. He instantly released her and began apologizing.

"I-I am so sorry Koneko-chan, I do not know what came over me.. Please forgive me." Issei said as he profusely apologized to her for his actions.

They sat in silence for a moment, Issei mentally cursing himself for his actions towards the younger girl that he had thought had been his long lost sister.

'I am terrible, all these years and I still have not gotten over it..' Issei thought to himself looking crestfallen as the younger Nekoshou sat and watched in silence, unsure what to make of the situation.

Issei sat on the bed, staring down into the bed sheets as his hands curled into fists, gripping the bed sheet tight.

Koneko watched the events unfold, uncertainty present in her mind. However when she saw the anguish present on her senpai's face, she knew what she should do.

"!" Issei exclaimed as he felt the younger Nekoshou's arms wrap around him, pushing her tiny body closer to him as she embraced him like her sister used to do with her whenever she was sad.

"Ne.. I think Ise-senpai is not weak at all." She said as she nestled up into his chest.

"..Koneko-chan..?" Issei replied in a quiet murmur. He was shocked by her embrace, but he was even more shocked by the name she had used for him.

'Ise.. Just like _she_ used to call me..' Issei whispered in a thought to himself before he let the flood gates open again as he resumed his tears.

Koneko calmly sat there embracing him, enjoying his warmth as it reminded her of her own sister, before she remembered something rather important that she had missed earlier.

'.. _tails_?' Koneko thought to herself as she looked at her senpai yet again, noticing the four tails present.

'..Four?!' She thought to herself, eyes widening yet again as she looked at them.

'..I thought Nekoshou's could only have two at most?' Koneko thought to herself. This was not all too surprising considering the limited knowledge that Koneko had about her race. The only other reference she had was her own sister after all.

Koneko did not remember anything about her parents, her sister being her only family growing up, until she turned stray and left Koneko alone to fend to her own devices.

Remembering her sister made Koneko start to tear up herself as she pulled herself into Issei's chest even further, slight shivers could be seen as she softly cried into his chest as they kept the embrace going, neither one of them letting go as they held each other deep into the night.

She would have to ask him about his tails later.

\- Scene Change -

Morning had come, the sun's rays shining down onto the sleeping pair as they slept, blissfully ignorant to the rest of the world around them.

 **Knock Knock**

Knocking could be heard coming from the other side of the door, however neither Issei, nor Koneko, could hear this as they were still fast asleep.

"I am coming in, Rias sent me to check up on you tw-" Akeno started saying as she opened the door, before stopping mid sentence as she saw the position the two of them were in.

Issei was laying on his back with a hand around Koneko's back as she held him around the waist with both of hers. Koneko had snuggled into Issei's chest as she slept with a small smile on her face, similar to the one Issei himself wore.

'Ara, I should not disturb them right now fufufu.' Akeno thought as she slowly closed the door behind her after exiting the room.

'..That was the first time that I have seen Koneko-chan smile since she got here.' Akeno thought to herself, slightly shocked. She even considered not teasing them about it as she did not want Koneko to refuse showing any emotions again, however, a little teasing would not hurt, right?

And with that, one of Akeno's famous sadistic smiles slipped out, although with less malicious intent around it this time.

And while this all happened, the pair continued sleeping, still blissfully unaware of what had happened inside the room.

\- Scene Change -

Issei was the first to wake as he slowly rose from the bed, noticing the younger Nekoshou snuggled against him, shocking him.

Then all the memories from last night came flashing back to him. Remembering what had happened yesterday Issei gave a small smile as he brushed his hand along Koneko's head much to her enjoyment as she gave a small purr, even though she was still fast asleep.

Issei tried getting up before he noticed how strongly she held him, she was surprisingly stronger than she seemed, putting Issei in quite the predicament as he tried untangling himself without waking the younger Nekoshou.

After a couple of minutes he eventually succeeded, replacing himself with a pillow for Koneko to snuggle against.

Issei went to grab his shirt from a nearby chair as they had slept fully clothed otherwise due to how tired they had been. However he had not slept with a shirt on as it had been removed when Koneko applied bandages on him last afternoon.

Throwing one more look at Koneko to see if she still were sleeping, he slowly closed the door behind him as he went out of the room he had spent the night in.

Issei was still unsure where exactly he was inside the rather large club building, however he remembered some parts of it due to his previous visit the day before.

Making his way into the nearby club meeting room that he recognized, he noticed Akeno sitting in one of the sofas present within the room working with some kind of papers.

"Ara Issei, you are finally awake." Akeno said as she noticed the teen approaching her.

"Well.. I had some trouble getting out of bed." Issei said sheepishly thinking back at the situation with Koneko, while he rubbed the back of his head.

"Koneko-chan is stronger than she looks, is she not? Fufufu." Akeno said with a teasing voice, a smile present or her face as she was well aware of what had happened within that room.

"You.. You did not-" Issei started, embarrassed at the thought of being seen in such a vulnerable state by his senpai.

"Ara, I just happened to enter the room since nobody answered my knocking, had I known you two were doing such _indecent_ acts I would not have entered." Akeno said, enjoying the situation to its fullest, making sure to tease Issei as much as possible.

"W-We did no such things! We just slept together that is all.." Issei stated, flabbergasted at the her statement, how wrong was she reading the situation?!

"Ara? So you do admit sleeping with your junior? Such a naughty boy Issei, Fufufu." Akeno continued, naturally she was aware that no such thing had happened as Koneko would have sent him flying if he even looked at her the wrong way, but he did not have to know that.

"Yes! I mean no.. I mean-" Issei said as he let out a large groan, facepalming at his senpai's attempt at twisting his words.

"There is nothing to be ashamed of Issei, it was just a bit of naughty fun, was it not?" Akeno said, as she wanted to tease him one last time before she switched the subject.

The only reply she received was another loud groan from Issei, at this, she just giggled.

"So are you going to go around telling everyone about this then?" Issei stated, this time more seriously as he did not want them to pester Koneko about this, having already been on the brunt end of the teasing he did not want her to experience the same thing.

"No.. This will be our little secret~" Akeno said with a wink, Issei just sighing in appreciation.

"So.. How are you feeling? You looked rather banged up yesterday." Akeno asked with kind voice, losing the teasing tone that she previously had held.

"I am fine, I just needed a good night of sleep to lick my wounds." Issei said, making Akeno raise an eyebrow at his weird choice of words.

"And a good night of sleep it was~" Akeno said with yet another wink sent to him.

"Do not even start." Issei replied, not allowing her any further teasing. This made Akeno pout before she laughed again.

"So.. How is Kiba fairing? I believe that I gave him quite the beating yesterday." Issei asked, hoping that he had not inflected too much damage on the knight.

"Kiba is fine, he was in nowhere near the condition that you arrived here with last night. And with the regenerative power of a devil he is up and about." Akeno said, making Issei sigh in relief yet again.

"He actually came by here earlier to apologize, however you were still fast asleep so he said that he will come by later again." Akeno said, confusing her junior with her words.

"He came to apologize? About what?" Issei queried, he could not think of any reason for the knight to apologize to him.

Before Issei could receive his senpai's reply he heard knocking at the door.

 ***Knock Knock** *

"Ara? I guess that he is here now." Akeno stated blankly, surprised at his timing.

"Oh, Akeno-san? And Issei-san too." Kiba asked as he entered the room, noticing the two students standing there chatting.

"Hey! Kib-" Issei started before he was cut off by Kiba bowing to him, which shocked Issei.

"I am so sorry for yesterday, I put way too much power into that attack, had you not dodged it you might very well have died." Kiba stated, whilst still staring into the floor. He felt truly awful for what he had done to his friend.

The room grew silent, which lasted for a few seconds before it was interrupted by a-

 ***Flick** *

"I-Issei-san?" Kiba stuttered out as Issei had gone over and flicked him on his forehead with his fingers, making Kiba rub the spot where his fingers had touched.

" _Baaaka."_ Issei said, as he had regained his composure that had previously been thrown off by the knight bowing to him.

"Who do you take me for Kiba? That fight was awesome, you are going to have to show me that attack again later!" Issei stated with a smile, shocking both Kiba and Akeno.

" _Although.._ If you make me seem weak again by apologizing like that again in the future, I am going to give you another one of those punches." Issei stated threateningly with a sadistic smile on his face, making Kiba sweat drop at his antics.

"Issei-san I-" Kiba started before being interrupted by Issei.

"Skip the _-san_ Kiba, we are friends, are we not?" Issei stated, with a small smile present on his lips.

At this Kiba went wide eyed before he simply smiled and replied with; "Hai, Issei."

The group turned around as they heard small footsteps coming in their direction, belonging to the young Nekoshou girl Koneko.

"Ara? It appears as if the second sleepyhead has woken up. Fufufu" Akeno said with a teasing tone, making Koneko's eyes widen a bit before a small blush appeared on her cheeks as she understood that Akeno had seen them.

'..Second?' Kiba thought to himself, wondering as to what Akeno was referring to.

"..."

Koneko had muttered something silently under her breath before she went over towards Issei, making him question her intention.

"..Senpai.." Koneko silently uttered, with a small glare directed at him making him wonder why she looked at him that way.

"Koneko-chan? What are y- OUCH!" Issei exclaimed as Koneko had punched him in the gut.

"W-What was that for?!" Issei shouted, wincing slightly at the pain he felt since she had hit one of his bruises.

"..That was for not waking me up." Koneko silently stated, making sure that nobody besides her senpai would be hearing what she said.

"You looked so cute and peaceful, I could not just wake you up like that." Issei started explaining himself to Koneko also making sure that the other two club members did not hear their conversation.

His only response was another punch, although this one had less force behind it. Koneko said nothing as she looked down at the floor, a blush forming on her face yet again from his words.

'?' Kiba just thought to himself as he watched his friends antics, not understanding what was going on, meanwhile Akeno was standing there snickering silently as she understood what Koneko had done.

A smile was present on every person within the room at the time.

Suddenly a crimson magic circle appeared on the floor as Rias appeared from it, excusing her interruption.

"Sorry that it took so long, I had to deal with some devil business in the underworld." Rias stated, making them nod, they could understand that there was a lot of things to deal with being the sister of the Crimson Satan.

"Akeno, did you finish those papers I asked of you?" Rias asked her best friend, hoping that she had fulfilled the duty she had asked of her.

"Yes Rias, they are all finished." Akeno stated as she handed the papers over to Rias, making her cast a glance at them for a moment before she simply nodded and gave her thanks.

"How are you feeling Issei-san?" Rias asked with worry in her voice as she had not personally seen Issei since last night when she handed him over to Koneko.

"I am just fine, thanks to this little miss over here." Issei stated as he placed a hand on Koneko's head, making her eyes widen slightly as she turned her head up towards him.

"Is that so? Well thank you very much then for your duty Koneko-chan." Rias stated with a smile on her face.

Next Issei decided to bow before Rias, as a token of his appreciation of her hospitality, she had not been forced to tend to his wounds after the battle, rather she did it out of her own free will. Which Issei appreciated.

"Thank you for hospitality, I might not remember what happened after mine and Kiba's fight, but I do know that I did not get here by myself. Thank you." Issei stated with a small smile on his face, gratitude apparent in his voice.

"O-Of course I brought you here, anyone would have, considering your wounds." Rias stuttered out, surprised by his actions.

Issei laughed slightly before he replied.

"We both know that is not true senpai, the title of being the kindest devils truly befit your family senpai." Issei said courteously, sure Issei could be brash at times, but he was well capable of showing manners to those that he thought deserving of such.

Rias slightly blushed at his statement.

"Ne, senpai.. I might not be a devil, but I do believe that I truly would enjoy it here. Would you let me join the Occult Research Club?" Issei said, making Rias's eyes widen before she replied.

"Of course you are welcome here Issei-san, I will have prepared the papers that you need to sign by tomorrow, just drop by again after school and we will get you properly signed up." Rias stated cheerfully, the rest of the ORC just smiling at them.

"Well then, I do believe that I need to return home and clean myself up, I must be starting to stink" Issei said laughing slightly.

"Ara? I believe Koneko-chan would say otherwise~." Akeno teased, making Koneko's face grow beet red as she stared down into the floor.

Issei just laughed sheepishly at her comment before excusing himself, leaving the Occult Research Club building behind him as he made his way home. Azazel would earn himself an earful tonight, that fact was certain.

\- Scene Change -

The members of the Occult Research Club stood and watched as Issei left, making his way home, before Akeno spoke up, erasing the silence.

"So Rias, what do you think about the Sekiryuutei~?" Akeno teased her friend as Rias grew wide-eyed, she had totally forgotten that Issei was the Sekiryuutei due to the events that had happened after his battle.

'I will have to ask him about that tomorrow..' Rias thought to herself as she groaned, how could she have forgotten that her soon-to-be club member was the Sekiryuutei?

Kiba and Akeno just laughed at their club presidents antics.

'...' Koneko thought silently to herself, thinking over what had happened last night. She grew slightly red remembering how she had embracing him, before another thought took precedence within her mind.

'..Ise-senpai did not smell like a human, so how could he wield a Sacred Gear..?' Koneko thought to herself, while she might not have quite as strong senses as Issei had, she would still have noticed the smell in her Nekomata form considering how long she had embraced him.

'..Ise-senpai's smell..' Koneko thought yet again, her cheeks turning a rosier tint deeper than they previously had been.

\- Scene Change -

"… … … … ..."

"Damn it old man, I know that you are purposely avoiding picking up the phone right now." Issei cursed his mentor as he sighed once he looked down at himself, he really needed to clean himself up, the odor of sweat present on his body.

Issei stepped into his shower after he had removed his clothes, making sure that they went into the laundry bin.

Turning the warm water on he stood and basked in its warmth for a moment, before he decided to contact his Sacred Gear.

'Ne Ddraig.. Thank you for earlier, I was not myself at the time..' Issei thought to the ancient dragon as he continued to wash himself.

 **[Hmph. If I am going to be stuck with you, the last thing I would want to happen would be for you to have a mental breakdown on me, making you unfit for battle.]** The voice of Ddraig echoed within his head, making Issei smile slightly.

The response he received was not quite what one would expect to receive from someone that you just had thanked, however Issei knew Ddraig well enough to know that this was his prideful way of saying that he should not spare it another thought.

For being named "The Red Dragon Of Domination" he could be surprisingly gentle at times.

Issei just chuckled to himself at the thought whilst he cleaned himself, he would have to re-apply bandages later, the cuts he had received from Kiba had already mostly healed, however the injuries that he had sustained due to his ki training remained present on his body.

For as long as Issei could remember he has had troubles utilizing his ki. Yes, he could accomplish simple tasks such as enhancing his senses or temporarily increasing his physical aspects by channeling ki into them, but at a much greater strain than any normal Nekomata or Nekoshou would require.

And that was without going into the advanced arts of manipulating ki, such as restoration, commonly known as "healing" or ki manifestation.

Which resulted in Issei healing significantly slower than any other Nekoshou would, due to the strain that was placed on his body during its process of healing itself.

If Issei were to explain this to anyone, the best explanation he could give was that it felt like two different rivers were coursing through his body, forcing him to go against the tide no matter which direction he was facing.

And with this, Issei had finished re-applying new bandages, making a mental note that Koneko had been surprisingly adept with her job at them.

* **Ring Ring** *

Issei heard the phone in the living room ringing, as he made his way towards it to answer the caller.

"Hello?" Issei asked, not having checked the calling number before he picked up the phone.

"Issei! I finally got a hold of you, I have been trying to call you for the past 10 minutes." A voice that Issei knew all too well was on the other side of the line, the voice belonging to the Governor General, his mentor.

"Old man? Did you seriously thi-" Issei started saying, prepared to ask his sensei just why he had kept the information about there being another Nekoshou at Kuoh from him. However he was cut off by Azazel, something his senpai usually never did, which surprised him.

"Issei, look. I understand that you are angry at me, but this is important." Azazel said in a dead serious voice, making Issei wonder just what had gotten the fallen angel so agitated.

"The abandoned church in Kuoh, do you know of it?" Azazel asked, the serious tone still present in his voice.

"The abandoned church? Yes, but I do not see what y-" Issei started saying, before yet again being cut off by Azazel.

"Good. Look, I have gotten word that a few of my fallen angels that have defected are planning to extract an incredibly powerful Sacred Gear by the name of Twilight Healing soon." At this statement Issei's eyes widened before turning into a frown.

He knew all too well of the process required to extract a Sacred Gear from its wielder, hell his mentor had been the one to discover the process of doing so during the great war himself.

However, there were sins committed by all sides during the war, he did not hold it against his mentor, especially considering how his sensei had done everything that he could to avoid it being used again after the war had ended.

"I need you to stop them, we can not allow the Sacred Gear that is capable of healing all beings fall into the wrong hands, especially not now since we are not aware of what their end goal is. Please" Azazel stated, a slight undertone of dread present in his voice.

Hearing his sensei pleading at him made Issei's eyes widen. He could not remember the last time Azazel has pleaded for anything, and with the tone he bore.. This was a request that Issei could not deny.

"Alright sensei, I will ensure that they will not be able to get the Sacred Gear within their grasp." Issei stated, hearing Azazel letting out a breath of relief, only further cemented the fact that this was something serious. Being the leader of the Grigori allowed Azazel little movement, he had to rely on Issei at times like this to assist him.

"Thank you Issei." Was the reply Issei received from his mentor.

"I will move towards the abandoned church momentarily." Issei said, preparing himself for combat, before he heard his sensei intervene.

"No, do not go near that church yet. The procedure has to be done during a full moon, and if you go there tonight there is no saying if they even have the Sacred Gear wielder there. Scaring them off, thus allowing them to choose another destination for the ritual would have horrendous consequences." Azazel said, making Issei wonder when he should approach the church if that was the case.

"There will be a full moon tomorrow night, ensure that you have arrived there prior to midnight so you have time to secure the holder of the Sacred Gear before the ritual begins." Azazel stated, confirming the time and location for the ritual.

"Bring the Gremory peerage with you if possible, we have no idea with what we are dealing with here." Azazel said, making Issei's eyes widen. How did his sensei know that he had established contact with Rias and her peerage?

"How did y-" Issei started before his mentor cut him off.

"I have my ways~" Azazel said, ending the call on a lighter note.

Issei just sighed at this, tomorrow was going to be a long day he concluded.

* * *

 **Chapter END**

 **-Ending Author Notes-**

 **And that is it for the fourth chapter of this story! Once again I apologize for the delay that it took for me to get this chapter out to you guys, I had to deal with some stuff in real life which took away most of my writing time.**

 **I also spent quite a bit of time pondering over the interaction between Koneko and Issei as I wanted it to seem as genuine as possible without progressing their relationship too fast/too slow.**

 **From this chapter onward you will see the story start picking up speed with more action and more backstory being revealed. We are not _too_ far from the reveal of our favorite feline heroine either.**

 **This chapter also left some hints as to how Issei is able to possess a Sacred Gear as a full-blooded Nekoshou. If any of you think that you have figured out how Issei acquired his Sacred Gear, feel free to let me know in my PM's. Please do not post these guesses in your reviews as they might spoil things for other readers.**

 **Thank you all again for your HUGE support!**

 **Favorite/Follow/Review/Flame,**

 **The choice is yours!**

Until next time~


	5. Time Is Of The Essence

**-** **Author Notes -**

 **Hey guys! Would you look at that, I am not dead after all!**

 **So why did this chapter take so long to come out I am sure you wonder.**

 **Well to be honest, this chapter** _ **was**_ **written in the same amount of time as the others were, so why was it published so late?**

 **Well the truth is that I actually wrote two chapters in the time since the last chapter I posted, originally I had intended for the story to follow along the cannon story line for several more chapters, until I questioned myself as to why I would limit myself by doing that.**

 **Not only would it be boring for you guys, having to read the same story as you have probably read hundreds of time by this point, but it also seemed like a chore for me to write them down whilst making sure for them to seem unique enough as to not warrant any claims that I am just a lazy writer taking the easy route.**

 **What does this mean for the story? Well actually, quite a bit, yet not much at all, both at the same time. What I mean by this is that the ending of the story will remain roughly untouched, whilst the events leading up to it has changed.**

 **This means that from this chapter onward, the story will go down its own route, deviating from the normal DxD plot. Originally this would have happened much later in the story, but after some deep thinking I decided that this would be the ideal route to take, and I am sure that you guys will agree with me after seeing the next couple of chapters coming shortly.**

 **Before further ado, let me address some reviews that I have received.**

 _ **"You have went out of your way to give him all the tools to become genuinely top-tier character in DxD verse without depending on friendship power-up and such. Why you still insist on his strength being so inconsistent? I know the whole 'underdog' them is popular Shonen trope, but it really doesn't work in this context IMO." by DarkPirateKing69**_

 **Author Response: I totally understand the points you have brought up in your review. I assume you mostly refer to Issei's fight with Kiba where he came out severely wounded after the battle? As I said in the chapter, most of the wounds came from** _ **before**_ **the fight, not during it, in which Issei fought bare-handed for most of the fight against Kiba who were wielding a sword. It was not a fight that he took seriously until the very end.**

 **I am not going to have Issei's power fluctuate from strong to weak during a fight or anything of the like, but I am going to build his character properly to ensure that he seems real. Like I say in my very very bland Author Bio on the site, I dislike weak MC's.**

 **Thank you for your review!**

" _ **Hopefully something changes soon so it doesn't follow the show's path." by allen Vth**_

 **Author Response: I actually have to commend you on your review, it was partly what made me consider the changes that I have now applied to the story as I mentioned above. Thank you for your input!**

" _ **You talk about issei's issues with ki control maybe Kuroka can fix it when they meet you could work it in as a physical block. Just a suggestion tho. Great chapter" by S0UL-essen**_

 **Author Response: Who knows, wink wink. No but seriously, I planned out the entire story surrounding them as a pair, rather than applying a pairing around a finished story as I have seen many other authors do, which also could work very nicely, but I feel as if this approach gives me the most freedom with promoting them as a key element in the story. Thank you for your review!**

" _ **Lol I have one major problem with this, and it centers around a single line ..." by GunScythe**_

 **Author Response: First off, I'd just like to address that I do not like using the word "flame", I simply use it for comedic effect in my author notes. Your review is very detailed and provides constructive feedback, I could never call myself a decent writer if I dismissed your review purely because our opinions on the matter differ. What I had in mind when I wrote that line was something along these lines; Take a look at Kuroka in the normal DxD story-line, she had plenty of opportunity to lay with strong men, however she sought for the single strongest male she could find to bear her children instead of throwing herself at any strong man she could find, which would have resulted in more children. Considering how rare Nekomata's are, I believe that it would be reasonable to assume that one would prefer having the strongest possible offspring as that would result in the best survival rate. Which is why Issei and Kuroka would be attracted to each other considering they are both incredibly powerful, which would result in strong offspring. However I do totally see the point you make, and I fully understand that you disagree with what I wrote there, however I did so as to solidify the fact that this is not a harem and never will be. Had that been my intention, using the mentioned line you provided would have been splendid for its purpose. Thank you for the review and I sincerely hope that you could bring yourself to read this far into the story so that you could find my response to your wonderful review.**

 **And thank you to all the other reviewers that I did not highlight this time around:**

 **BaronChronos, Laserbr0, NiteExtreme, Gabrielbrooks, OsteoPoro, AnimeA55Kicker, Matt(Guest), Funnybones123, Shi The Sin of Sloth, Guest, B.E.R.Z, merendinoemiliano,** **Eternity456 and Chorono!**

 **-A** **uthor Notes END-**

"Hello" - Regular Speech

'I am hungry' - Thoughts

 **[BOOST!] -** Sacred Gear/Ddraig Speech

 ***CLANGGGG* -** Expression, example of steel hitting steel.

Disclaimer: I do not own High School DxD be it the anime, manga or light novel. What I do own however is my story and the changes provided within it.

 **Chapter 5: Time Is Of The Essence**

* * *

Issei rose to the sound of the alarm going off, muttering some words before turning it off and starting to prepare for the day ahead.

Yawning as he made his way downstairs, tired as usual from the constant nightmares preventing him from getting a good night of sleep.

'..Maybe I should get Koneko-chan to join me again sometime.' Issei thought to himself as he reminisced about their night together, one of the few times that Issei had been able to properly sleep without any nightmares disturbing him.

Regardless of his tiredness, Issei completed the remainder of his morning routine before setting off towards Kuoh Academy, he had classes today after all.

\- Scene Change -

Issei noticed that he was slightly late for class as his other classmates were already sitting in their seats as he entered the classroom.

Upon noticing that Issei had returned to class after not showing up the day before, the class started whispering to each other, mainly the girls as they came up with theories as to why their classmate had not been present the day after the "Prince of Kuoh Academy" had taken him with him.

"..I thought you were joking at first, but maybe they really are an item..?" Issei picked up from one of the whispers due to his enhanced hearing, much to his dismay.

"Oh? Hyoudou-san? You decided to show up today?" The teacher queried him, making him internally sigh at having to come up with an explanation as to why he had not shown up to class the day before.

"I did not feel very good yesterday, so I decided to spend the day in bed." Issei replied with a blank expression on his face, hoping the teacher would buy his excuse.

"..In bed this soon?! Yuuto-san must be more aggressive than we thought!" Issei heard some girls whispering not so quietly to each other, making Issei sweat drop.

'..I am starting to think that the girls in this school are more perverted than the boys..' Issei thought to himself.

"Very well then, please go to your seat. Class is about to start." The teacher replied, making Issei shrug before he went and sat down, preparing for yet another arduous battle against his will to sleep during the lecture.

\- Scene Change -

Class had ended and Issei was making his way towards the Occult Research Club's club building to officially sign up as a member, and to ask for their assistance with handling the ritual that were going to occur later in the evening.

Upon entering the Occult Research Club's club building, Issei made his way towards the main office where he assumed the club members would have gathered at, remembering the way from his previous visits.

* **Knock Knock** *

"Come in." Issei heard Rias reply from the other side of the door before he opened it and entered the room.

"Welcome back Issei-san, please take a seat." Rias said with a smile as she motioned towards the sofas where the rest of her peerage were sitting.

Issei nodded as he went to sit next to Koneko on the sofa. Flashing her a small smile before he sat down.

"Now that we are all gathered here, let us get you officially signed up as an ORC member." Rias said as she took a small bundle of papers from Akeno before handing them over to Issei who sat across from her.

Issei skimmed through the papers quickly, and as he did not notice anything out of the ordinary within them he concluded that he was ready to sign them.

"Alright, everything seems to be in order, could I have a pen so I can sign these documents?" Issei queried as he did not have a pen on him at that time.

"Here you go Issei." Kiba stated, handing over a pen that he had brought out of his pocket.

"Thanks Kiba" was the reply he got from Issei as he started signing the documents, making Rias surprised at their interaction.

'Since when did they get so close?' Rias thought to herself as she had not been there to notice the events that had gone on inside the club room after Issei had awoken yesterday.

After a moment of silence Issei handed back the documents that he had signed to Rias so she could look over them.

Rias checked the documents quickly to ensure that Issei had not missed signing anything, noticing that everything was in order she simply stowed the documents away before smiling.

"And now that that is done, you are hereby an official member of the Occult Research Club!" Rias exclaimed with a smile.

Looking around Issei noticed that the rest of the ORC had equal smiles on their faces, this made Issei give his own slight smile in return.

"Thank you for having me." Issei replied.

And with that, the club room filled with chatter as the ORC members discussed about various topics. Issei was enjoying the atmosphere, although he still had Azazel's request nagging in the back of his head.

"Issei?" Noticing that Issei had gone quiet, Kiba queried him, wondering as to why his friend looked so absence minded.

"Eh?" Issei replied as he noticed the look the rest of the club were giving him.

"Sorry I was just thinking about some things." Issei replied, making the rest of the Occult Research Club wonder what he was thinking about.

"..Well the truth is that I did not only come here today to sign the documents." Issei replied making Rias raise an eyebrow.

"Hm? And what would your other reason be?" Rias asked, curious about what other reasons he could have for coming here.

"Well.. The truth is that I actually came here to ask for your assistance with something, well, all of you actually." Issei replied cryptically, surprising the rest of the Occult Research Club.

"Ara? You need our help?" Akeno questioned him, wondering what her junior was up to.

"Yes, you see.." Issei started, as he carefully picked his next words.

"There happens to be a ritual going down in the abandoned church near Kuoh Academy later tonight at midnight. I was asked to bring you along as backup in case things go awry." Issei said, shocking the members of the Occult Research Club.

"A-A ritual? By whom? For what purpose?" Rias stuttered out as she started shooting off questions his way.

"Yes, a ritual. Apparently a couple of stray fallen angels are attempting to extract a rare sacred gear from its wielder." Issei said, making Rias go wide-eyed. She was not aware of the exact process, but she knew very well that it would not be a pleasant process.

Furthermore, what were fallen angels doing in _her_ territory?

The ORC just sat and tried to comprehend what Issei just had brought forward.

"And who told you about this?" Rias questioned Issei, making him sigh.

"My sensei." Issei stated, wanting to avoid having to reveal just who he was referring to.

"..Your sensei? Who is this person?" Akeno asked Issei, curious about the identity of the aforementioned person.

"Unfortunately I am not able to say that.." Issei said as he slowly shook his head.

"I see.." Akeno replied.

"And how did this person get a hold of this information?" Rias asked, slightly doubting Issei's intentions.

"..I am afraid that I am not able to reveal that either." Issei stated awkwardly, he could clearly see how what he was saying was doubtful at best.

"..." The room remained silent, nobody quite sure as to what to reply to this.

"If Ise-senpai asks for our help, that must mean that it is something important, right?" Koneko said looking over at her senpai with a wondering look.

Seeing Issei nodding at her made her come to a conclusion.

"..Alright, I will help Ise-senpai." Koneko said, making Issei perk up, he had started to doubt whether or not he would be able to get their assistance in this matter or not.

"Koneko-chan?" Rias stated, surprised at how affectionate she seemed towards their newest club member.

"How could I call myself your friend if I did not help you out when you came asking for help?" Kiba said with a smile, Issei was taken aback at first, before returning the smile.

"Ara, If my junior comes to me for help then it is my duty to show him my guidance, fufufu." Akeno stated with a slightly devious smile, making Issei sweat drop.

'No doubt she will use this to blackmail me in the future.' Issei said to himself, amused at her response.

Rias just looked at how accepting her peerage was, making her feel a slight tinge of shame, how could she deny his request when he came asking her like this?

"W-Well I do suppose that you would need my help in this matter, after all this is _my_ territory they are trespassing on." Rias stuttered out, attempting to seem prideful and benevolent.

At her statement the rest of the ORC started laughing at her tone, it did not suit their kind Buchou after all.

"Mou!" Rias exclaimed in annoyance at their laughter.

"Well then Issei, you said that this ritual would occur at midnight, correct?" Rias stated, wanting confirmation.

At this Issei just nodded.

"Let us meet up at 11:30 near the church then, does that work for everyone?" Rias said, asking everyone for their input.

Seeing them nod Rias just turned to Issei again and smiled.

"Thank you all for your help, I need to get going. I will see you all later tonight." Issei said as thanked his fellow club members with a small bow before leaving the Occult Research Club's club building, making his way home.

\- Scene Change -

Issei was making his way home as he noticed a lone nun walking down the street, looking quite troubled.

"Hey, are you alright?" Issei asked the nun, watching as she slowly tilted her head to the side.

'Does she not understand Japanese?' Issei thought to himself, wondering which language the nun could possibly understand.

"Hey, do you speak English?" Issei asked without a hint of Japanese in his voice, he had been brought around by Azazel a lot during his mentor ship, so being unable to understand English would have lead to complications.

"I-.. Eh Yes!" The nun replied with a smile, being slightly shocked at finally meeting someone able to understand her.

"You looked quite troubled, are you okay?" Issei asked, curiosity present in his voice.

"I-I am fine, I recently arrived in this town to meet some of my sisters, however nobody I have asked were able to understand me enough to give me any directions.." The nun said with a crestfallen look.

Before Issei could speak up, he heard the nuns stomach grumble, making her face go beet red.

At this, Issei just chuckled.

"Here, let me treat you to something to eat, I will help you find your sisters afterwards." Issei said with a smile, the girl in front of him looked so innocent that he could not help but smile at her antics.

"O-Oh no, I could not do such a thing.." The nun stuttered out, before Issei grabbed her arm with a smile and brought her along with him to the nearby burger place.

\- Scene Change -

"Issei-san, I believe they forgot our cutlery when we ordered the food." The nun stated innocently, having gotten to know the name of the teen in front of her.

Issei just shook his head at this.

"No silly, you eat them like this." Issei said as he took a big bite out of his hamburger, much to the nuns surprise.

"Wow! I had no idea you could eat food like this!" The nun exclaimed as she also took a bite of the hamburger, savoring its taste.

And so, they spent the hour eating and chatting about various things.

"Thank you for the treat Issei-san" The nun exclaimed with a smile present on her face.

"Do not mention it, now I believe you said you needed to find guidance?" Issei said, remembering their earlier conversation.

"Ah, yes.. Well I am not quite sure what to do, I do not remember the address that I was supposed to meet them at." The nun stated making Issei frown, how were they supposed to find the address if she herself were not aware of it?

Then Issei got another idea on how to solve the problem.

"If we went to a phone-booth, would you be able to call them and ask for instructions?" Issei wondered, this would be the simplest solution to their problem after all.

"..Yes! That could work!" The nun exclaimed, having entirely forgotten about that possibility.

And so, the pair went to a nearby phone-booth that Issei paid for, allowing the nun to call and ask for directions, after a couple of minutes talking the nun stepped out of the booth, thanking Issei for letter her use it.

"I was told to take the bus and ride with it for the next five bus stops, they would be waiting for me there." The nun said with a smile.

"Well then, that is that.. Wait? Is that not your bus?" Issei queried, looking over at the incoming bus.

"Oh! Yes! That must be it." The nun started saying, surprised at how quickly it had arrived.

"I am Asia Argento, thank you so much for your help Issei-san, I hope we can meet again soon!" The nun exclaimed having turned around to face Issei yet again.

"I am sure we will, now get going or you will miss the bus!" Issei said to her, seeing her nod and run to the bus made him shake his head.

'What a silly girl.' Issei thought amusingly to himself as he watched the bus take off with the nun, now known as Asia within it.

'Well I better make my way back and prepare for tonight.' Issei thought to himself as he started moving in the opposite direction that the nun had gone.

\- Scene Change -

Several hours had passed since Issei's encounter with Asia, and midnight had started to approach.

Issei was making his way to the meeting spot that had been agreed on earlier in the meeting that had occurred between him and his fellow club members.

Upon reaching the designated area, Issei noticed that his fellow club members had already arrived, waiting for him to arrive.

"Hey Issei!" Kiba exclaimed with a wave towards him.

At this Issei just replied with his own wave, noticing the looks everyone was giving him made Issei question their intention.

'Why does it look like they are waiting for me to.. Oh right, I am the one that requested their assistance, naturally that would make me the leader for the mission.' Issei thought to himself as he came to the realization that he would be the one to command this mission.

"Thank you all for arriving at such short notice, there is no time to waste, let us get going." Issei said in an authoritative tone, seeing the other club members nodding at this, he started to make his way towards the church, the rest of the club following in a tow.

…

Having arrived at the church, Issei decided to deliver the rest of the plan that he had in mind to his fellow club members.

"Rias, Akeno. I want you two to patrol outside the church, ensuring that nobody gets into the church while we are busy cleaning out the fallen angels inside the church." Issei stated, which slightly shocked his fellow club members.

"I can understand wanting someone to keep watch outside the church, but why us two? Considering our magical power would we not be ideal in helping you clean out the church?" Rias questioned Issei, wondering why he told them not to come with him.

"It is certainly true that you have very strong magical powers Rias-senpai, which is why I do not want you two to come with us into the church." Issei said, much to the confusion of the other ORC members listening in on the conversation.

"We are going to be fighting close quarters inside a building, not only are your magical powers destructive, but they are suited for mid to long range combat. You would not only be at a disadvantage, but you would also risk bringing the church down onto us if you accidentally applied too much power into one of your spells." Issei continued clarifying his intentions to Rias and her peerage.

"That makes sense, but why did you decide not to bring me along Issei-san?" Akeno asked, this time using the proper honorific, this was not the time to tease around, she decided.

"Well, mainly because I do not want Rias-senpai to guard on her own, I do not doubt her abilities, but I would rather be safe than sorry." Issei stated, making Akeno nod along to his statement, it seemed logical after all.

"And for the second part, you have good chemistry with Rias-senpai, I trust that you will be able to keep her safe, you are her queen after all." Issei said, to which Akeno only smiled.

"Kiba and Koneko-chan, you are both suited for close-quarters combat, you will follow me into the church." Issei said, making them nod in reply.

"Alright, time is running dry. Let us get this started." Issei stated making a motion for Kiba and Koneko-chan to follow him into the church.

Upon entering the church, they could see a lone shadow standing against one of the inner church walls.

"..Keep your eyes and ears open, they might have an ambush awaiting us." Issei whispered to the knight and rook who had followed him into the church.

Seeing their nods he decided to proceed further into the church, Kiba and Koneko in tow.

Issei noticed the shadow starting to move, moving towards the altar where the moonlight shined down, revealing the figure that had previously been cloaked in the shadows.

Issei's eyes narrowed at the sight.

'That attire… An exorcist?" Issei thought to himself, noticing the outfit the man wore.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" The exorcist called out to them with a crooked voice and smile.

"It seems like a couple of shitty devils have walked right into my web." The exorcist continued, talking to himself, slightly creeping Issei and his companions out.

"You know, I am super strong, to be slain by me will be such an honor for shitty devils like yourselves. The name is Freed, remember it as I send you to purgatory!" The exorcist now known as Freed exclaimed as he drew a gun and a sword from his outfit.

Koneko was the first to act, grabbing the nearby church bench, before she sent it flying towards the stray exorcist.

"Tch, Is this the best you shitty devils can do? Hahaha!" Freed exclaimed as he split the bench into two halves with his shining sword, making Issei narrow his eyes.

'A sword empowered by the light? If Kiba or Koneko-chan get struck by this they will suffer severe damage.' Issei noted to himself.

Whilst Koneko continued chucking benches at the exorcist, who had now turned to dodging them instead of slicing them, Issei noticed Kiba clenching his fist shut, hard.

"Issei, please let me handle this guy." Kiba said, with poison lacing his words as he drew his blade, making Issei raise one of his eyebrows.

"Are you sure? You do know that his sword is made out of li-" Issei started, before he noticed the look Kiba had in his eyes, he had never seen Kiba wear such a serious expression before.

"Never mind. Go for it." Issei said, at this Kiba just nodded before he started sprinting towards Freed, sword drawn in his hand.

"Oh? The other shitty devil has finally decided to step in?" Freed said as he parried a strike from Kiba's blade.

Koneko had stopped throwing benches as to avoid hitting Kiba, as she turned to look at her senpai.

"Are you not going to step in, Ise-senpai?" Koneko queried, wondering why he did not help his friend out.

"Kiba asked me to let him take this battle, I would just damage his pride by stepping in now, have some faith in him Koneko-chan." Issei stated, without moving his eyes away from the fight happening in front of him.

"Oh? The shitty devil seems to be able to wield a blade after all!" Freed stated, as he interlocked blades with the Gremory knight.

"You are not so bad yourself." Kiba replied bluntly, as much as he disliked the man before him, he was still a knight, and thus kept his manners in check to some degree.

Freed pushed Kiba's blade away as he went in for a strike towards Kiba's abdomen, his blade shining brighter than it previously had.

"This is the end you shitty devil!" Freed exclaimed as he brought the blade towards Kiba.

However Kiba parried the blade with his own at the last second. Sensing the magical energy in the air surrounding Kiba's blade, Issei simply smirked to himself.

'Show me what you can do Kiba.' Issei thought to himself as he watched Kiba's blade become consumed by what looked to be pure darkness.

"W-What is this?!" Freed exclaimed in shock, his blade had started to glimmer, slowly but surely being consumed by the blade of the knight.

"Holy Eraser, the sword of darkness that consumes all light." Kiba stated, as he knocked away the stray exorcist.

"Issei!" Kiba exclaimed, wanting his friend to follow up with his attack.

In the blink of an eye Issei had disappeared from where he stood by Koneko, and implanted his fist in Freed's gut, sending him flying through the air into the back wall of the church, shocking Koneko with his speed.

Issei moved towards the downed exorcist to extract the information he needed from him.

Grasping the hand of the exorcist, he forcefully yanked it.

* **Snap** *

"AAAARGH!" Freed exclaimed, having just had his wrist snapped by the man in front of him, making Koneko wince at the events that occurred in front of her.

"The rest of your little group... Where. Are. They?" Issei said in a threatening tone, making the stray exorcist worried about what he would do should he not reveal the information to him.

"Well then, second wrist it is." Issei started saying as he moved to grasp at the other arm, before being interrupted by Freed.

"S-Stop! They are underground, underneath the altar. Y-You damn devils!" Freed stuttered out in pain, grasping his broken wrist.

"..." Was the only response he received as Issei moved to grasp the exorcist by the neck, before throwing him into the opposite wall, this time knocking him out.

"Koneko-chan, I want you to make sure that he does not escape while me and Kiba proceed underground." Issei stated, unaffected by what he had just done.

Koneko just nodded in response, as Issei moved over to push the altar out of the way, revealing a set of stairs underneath.

"Come." Issei said to Kiba as they proceeded to go underground, further into the church.

The pair moved further through the dark underground path, wandering for a short while before they noticed a light coming from the end of the tunnel.

As they approached the end of the tunnel they noticed that before them laid a rather spacious candlelit room, filled with robed men standing before what looked like a bloody crucifix.

Besides the crucifix stood a robed man with a hat on his head, holding a glowing object in his hands.

Issei's eyes widened at the sight as he looked at what the man was holding.

"..We were too late." Issei said through gritted teeth, the object that the man was holding was nothing else than the Sacred Gear Twilight Healing.

* * *

 **Chapter END**

 **-Ending Author Notes-**

 **And with that, we officially stray away from the cannon story line. I am aware that some characters themselves are not cannon, but the story has still followed cannon events thus far.**

 **Some important cannon events will still happen, but they may not happen in the same way as you would expect, or in the same time periods as they do in the original story.**

 **For those of you wondering as to when Kuroka will show up, if I had to give an estimate I would say roughly 4 chapters, give or take.. So look forwards to that!**

 **Favorite/Follow/Review/Flame,**

 **The choice is yours!**

Until next time~


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